January 06, 2004
Mini-Skirts Banned In Malaysian State
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Non-Muslim Malaysian women in opposition-run
Terengganu state will not be able to wear short-sleeved blouses,
tight-fitting jeans, long skirts with slits or mini-skirts to work in the
future. They are also barred from wearing figure-hugging or revealing dresses, said assemblyman Sulaiman Abdullah.
"The PAS (Islamic Party) government will not tolerate females, including
those from different religions, wearing such clothes during working hours,"
Sulaiman, who is also Kuala Terengganu municipal council president, was
quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.
Sulaiman said non-Muslims, although free to wear skirts, must wear them to
their knees.
Muslim women working in the private sector would now have to adhere to the
Islamic dress code and wear headscarves and loose clothes, he said.
The council will distribute circulars on the dress code to businesses and
visit premises with Islamic preachers to advise Muslim women who flout the
ruling.
Employers whose workers are found to be wearing improper attire could be
fined up to 250 ringgit (66 dollars) or lose their licences, he said.
The hardline Islamic Party controls just two of the 13 states in
multicultural Malaysia, which has large non-Muslim minorities of ethnic
Chinese and Indians.