Press Digest: No dress code necessary, says Cabinet

PETALING JAYA: The Cabinet is of the view that no dress code is necessary for public requiring only counter service at government department or agencies.
However, it feels that a dress code, i.e. a revised one, is still needed to ensure those on official visits or have appointments with officers, are properly attired, Sin Chew Daily reported today.
According to the report, in the wake of a series of “sarong and tower incidents”, the Cabinet has directed the chief secretary to the government to review the dress code to ensure it is not so strict as to elicit public outage and ridicule.
The Cabinet feels that as long as public members are not overly exposed, they should be allowed into government departments even if they wear skirts that do not cover their knees, shorts or short-sleeve shirts.
However, if public members are on official visits to government departments or have made appointments to meet department officers, they have to be properly attired, in accordance with the dress code, the Cabinet opined.
Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan told the daily the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday discussed the issue of overzealous enforcement of strict dress code that had stirred controversy for weeks, and came to the conclusion that a dress code is still needed but it should not be too strict.
There should not be any problem for those requiring just counter service at government departments as long as they are not exposing themselves too much, he said.
“The Cabinet feels that government agencies or departments offering only counter services should not impose dress code on visitors.
“Unless customers are only in undergarments or are too expose, in which case they would surely be denied entry,” said Abdul Rahman.
“Malaysians are more casual in their attire. Many like to go about in T-shirts and shorts or mini-skirts. This is so common. Tolong lah! This shouldn’t be a problem at all.”