Ditto to MINDEF's Response Over Dress Code

In facing the flood of criticism over dress code violation nationwide, nearly every ministry, agency and office had decided to back down. They backed down, and criticized the poor guards who had been left to hold the blame. Nearly every ministry, except for MINDEF, or Ministry of Defence. I strongly applaud the Ministry for standing firm with the issue as it is beginning to get out of hand.

The reporter or the news - you decide

The fifth tenet of our Rukun Negara reads as "Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan", or  "Decency and Morality". Wearing decent clothes to government offices and agencies are something that should be a norm for each and every citizen of a country. It is a sign of respect to the institution.

I am also flabbergasted how some individuals had linked the sarong to so-called Islamization of the nation. Hello? My late grandmother (God bless her soul) wore sarong daily.

Let's not get to carried away with the whole issue. Let's look into this particular issue. MINDEF is right in upholding the dress codes. Many individuals who had dealings with MINDEF will attest to that, myself included. The first question we would ask before going, what is the dress code.

In this particular case, the fact the reporter had another dress inside her car specifically kept for such incident tells me she had plans to provoke such response from guards-at-arms at MINDEF.

MINDEF Press Release

If your intention to provoke, consider yourself lucky you were allowed to continue to cover the event. But after today's event, your editor should consider someone else to cover any other MINDEF related events.

Let's all be decent on this issue. Ask yourself, if you had set certain criteria for people to do when visiting your office, or your home, but they don't follow it, doesn't this mean they are disrespectful to you?

And take note, it is not about how short your dress is. It is about respect to the institution. Read what these guys had to say. There are others too. But it is easier for me to pick those commented at GempurWira's Facebook.