Kota Baru Cover-Up

Technorati tags: Malaysia, Kelantan, Dress Code, Enforcement, Human Rights, Islam

Walski's note: Yup - Walski's back. In lieu of the recent travel-related post, which Walski still owes you lot, here's something more pressing in the meantime...

Here's yet another reason why Kelantan is not on Walski's Places-to-Visit list.

Kota Baru Cover Up Campaign...

Between keris-weilding morons, and another bunch of idiots wanting to cover everything up, this voter's choice is fast becoming a no-brainer... perhaps the only choice for any Malaysian wanting a country that's more liberated. But more on that thought some other time. Just think what a wonderful place Malaysia would be if (God-forbid) PAS were actually every to come into power nationwide.

While this enforcement notice apparently only applies to those working in food outlets and in shops, it wouldn't surprise Walski one bit if the enforcement would later be extended to anyone walking the streets of Kota Baru.

Once again, women are targetted as bearing the responsibility of men's behavior - the same mentality that blames rape on how the victim is dressed. Nevermind that the man is the one perpetrating the crime... it's all the women's fault.

Really, those supposedly "indecent women" should just move out of Kelantan and find work elsewhere. Of course, the move by the Kota Baru Municipal Council (MPKB) is not without reason (emphasis by myAsylum).

“But now, MPKB will no longer tolerate skimpy outfits, following mounting complaints from the public,” Mohd Azman said, adding that under the by-laws, women working in retail outlets should wear decent clothes.

Yes, folks, Abdul Public strikes again.

On a lighter note, however, this would probably serve as a great opportunity to promote a fantastic new high-tech garb that Walski introduced some months back, and is re-unveiled (pun intended) as part of this post.
(high-tech cover up garb, and more, in the full post)

Re-introducing the i-Burka...

Originally designed for Afghan fashion, the i-Burka fits well into the Kelantan landscape

For usage in Kelantan, the drab exterior could possibly be redesigned to incorporate a more batik-like design... oh, wait - that would attract too much attention, wouldn't it? After all, it's the attention the supposedly over-exposed women that sparked off this enforcement kick in the first place. According to Abdul Public anyway.

And while other Asian nations are moving ahead by leaps and bounds economically, our friends in Kota Baru are concerned about "our Asian culture and religion".

So, going by this logic, the navel-exposing saree cannot therefore be Asian. Hmm... looks like Asia has just lost another large country.

Of course, women's groups around the nation have not taken this news lying down.

In another article from the Star today, various women's aid and support groups have expressed their outrage over this latest stunt from our repressed brethren up north-east.

Perhaps Honey Tan, executive director of AWAM (All-Women's Action Society) says it best,

“It is not the job of the council to become the 'moral police', and if it is concerned about the community it serves, it should encourage men and women to respect each other regardless of their dressing''.

And Walski couldn't agree with them more - this is definitely a violation of human rights and personal space. But of course, to these Putrid Asinine Scumbuckets, there is probably no such thing as "personal space", especially when it concerns others. Double-especially when it concerns women.

Walski's only been to Kota Baru once, about 5 or 6 years ago, and one thing that struck him was the deplorable state of the roads in the self-proclaimed "Islamic City". It's not likely that Walski will make a return visit to find out if the roads have been fixed or not. Not any time soon, anyway.

One can only wonder how this news is going be received by the tourism industry. Walski's guess is that it won't be well-received at all. But who cares about tourism, as long as the women are covered, right? And after this, state-line checkpoints to ensure that the female tourists keep to the dress-code can't be too far behind...