Two Malaysian Senators apparently can’t stand the heat in the cabin that originates from the body toned uniforms of various airlines registered in the country with one of the politicians calling for a ‘shariah compliant’ dress code.
The remaining members of the Malaysian parliament (Dewan Negara) didn’t appear to take the speech of the two individuals and reportedly responded with laughter to the comments of their colleagues.
Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country and has plenty of political parties as well as politicians that are known as Muslim hardliners when it comes to public policy, even though the government itself is moderate.
The incidents were covered in two separate article of the New Straits Times with roughly a week in between.
You can access the first article about the demand for a Shariah compliant flight attendant dress code here.
The government should introduce shariah-compliant uniforms for flight stewardesses serving the country’s airlines to reflect Malaysia’s image as a Muslim country, said Senator Datuk Hanafi Mamat.
He said the move would not hurt airline companies, as their survival depends on delivery of high-quality service.
“We are proud that Malaysia is an Islamic country with its own cultural identity.
“But when our flight stewardesses dress up sexily and disrespectfully, this will give tourists who use the services of our national carriers the wrong impression. The time has come for the government to provide new uniform guidelines which will portray Malaysia as a Muslim country with strong eastern values,” he said during the debate on the Supply Bill 2018 at the Dewan Negara here on Monday.
The comments prompted an outpour of ridicule all over the country, especially in social media.
Then now one of his colleagues said in parliament that ‘his wife was worried every time he flies Malindo or Air Asia‘ due to the allegedly revealing outfit of the cabin crew (access the article about that here).
The iconic all-red attire of AirAsia’s female flight attendants as well as the snappy orange Firefly uniforms were deemed “too revealing” by Senator Datuk Abdullah Mat Yasim.
Abdullah, in his assessment, opined that the “eye-catching outfits” do not reflect the status of Islam as the official religion of the Federation as enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution.
“The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) must really look into this,” he said when debating the MAVCOM (Amendment) Bill 2017 in Parliament today.
Abdullah said the uniforms are not only revealing but can arouse passengers, especially young people.
Senator Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin, who is also general-secretary of the Malaysian National Silat Federation (PESAKA), concurred. …
“My wife is worried whenever I fly alone on Malindo or AirAsia. “This is a real hassle for me,” he said, drawing laughter from other members of the Dewan Negara.
In reply, Abdullah said the flight attendant uniforms of Malindo Air is still acceptable.
He said Malindo flight attendant uniforms are also body hugging but at least the “sensitive areas” are covered. He did not elaborate which areas were deemed “sensitive.”
One really got to wonder what in the world is going on in these peoples mind. It would actually be funny if it wasn’t meant to be serious. Mind you, these are the countries lawmakers though the reaction of their colleagues made it pretty clear what they though of the medieval mindset of the two Senators.
Having such an extreme sentiment in a legislative branch is dangerous. Malaysia’s ASEAN neighbors Brunei as well as some regions of Indonesia (Banda Aceh) have implemented Shariah Law in their respective territories.
Conclusion
Nobody really took this serious but it just proves that no country is immune against having some loonies elected as their representatives which in turn however means there are plenty of crazy people among us who actually vote for such individuals who apparently have very little self control if something such as this is presenting a large social issue for them.
