Among the reasons for the fiascos over dress codes at government offices are ultra-conservatives seeking to impose their values on others, said MCA vice president Chew Mei Fun.

 

She argued that these incidents are not caused by people disagreeing with the need to dress decently at government offices.

 

“Instead, the grievance is due to long-term accumulation of a lack of understanding between different ethnic groups and creeds, and/or some aspects of coercion, and ultra-conservativeness by others who demand and expect adherents of other faiths to follow their standards, causing others to feel violated,” she said.

 

Chew, principal of the MCA School of Political Studies, was addressing a group of MCA members at the opening of a seminar on race relations organised by the school today.

 

She was referring several incidents highlighted in the media over the past two weeks, where visitors at government wearing skirts or pants shorter than knee-length were instructed to wear a sarong or towel provided to them, or were refused entry outright.

This worsens inter-ethnic and inter-faith relations she said.

 

She said although the relevant authorities such as the Road Transport Department, the Sungai Buloh Hospital, and the Selangor State Secretariat, had already apologised and taken corrective action, the people involved have already been hurt and the public had already drawn their own conclusions about the incident.

 

She argued that there is a need for a safe environment where issues about national unity can be discussed meaningfully.

 

“It is more pragmatic, progressive to hold a professional dialogue and find a way to close the gap of the entire ethnic group, rather than descending towards mob rule,” she said.