The more conservative the society, the more backward is the nation

Writer: Chen Bao Qing (translated name)
Sin Chew, June 24, 2015

Government departments are supposed to be working hard to achieve an advanced nation status but they seem to be busy focusing on female dresses and skirts instead of their jobs.

The sarong incident at the JPJ office has aroused an outcry and shamed us Malaysians. We thought the Government officials concerned would have learned a lesson. However, in less than a fortnight, the Selangor State Secretariat committed the same unforgivable mistake by barring two women from entering unless they wore a sarong. As a matter of fact, the three women were dressed quite properly. The problem was with guards at these government buildings.

Even though both JPJ and the Selangor state government have apologized, as long as the dress code has not abolished, such things will happen again when government officials are having such blurred mentality.

When the world is making rapid progress, we are going down and down. The social atmosphere has become more conservative and stifling. The blame is on both the ruling and opposition parties which ignore national development and public interest.

For example, in the race for Malay votes, both UMNO and PAS have been using religion to bolster their strength. PAS makes Islamic state as its objective and sticks to its Islamic principles. UMNO has become more conservative by injecting conservative religious values in its policy measures. Not only have they dragged down the economy, they also violated the rights of non-Muslims, resulting in racial and social discord.

In the 60’s and 70’s, Malay ladies used to perm their hair and wear sarong kebaya, showing their slim figures. This has become history. Now because of the conservative doctrines promoted by both the ruling and opposition parties, Malay ladies today have to hide their beautiful hair and cover up their bodies. They have lost their beauty as well as their right to the freedom of dressing.

How they dress would attract criticism from Malay males, especially politicians. These “pious” men have criticized MAS stewardesses for not wearing shawls, showing off their figures and also for selling in-flight liquor.

Even Wanita UMNO leaders also criticized AirAsia stewardesses for wearing short skirts to attract male attention. They want them to change to Malay dress to cover up their bodies.

Recently, these Muslim moral defenders are focusing on our athletes and causing an unnecessary controversy by criticizing our gold medalist Farah Ann for wearing revealing attire.

Besides dressing, there have been repeated incidents in which Muslims had forced their values on others. For example, protest against the Cross on a church building in Selangor, asking non-Muslim students to take their meal in an inappropriate place and then the “drink your urine” remark uttered by a senior teacher in a Sungai Petani national primary school.

All these incidents smack of disrespect of other’s religions and basic human rights. They drag down our society and damage the spirit of our country as a secular state.

More worrisome is the fact that Islamization and conservative tendency have hindered the development of a more open democratizing process. PAS has become more blatant and bullying as it grows stronger. If such a trend continues, Malaysia will be even more conservative and extreme.

It is a pity that as globalization is now an unstoppable trend, Malaysia may become an outcast. When foreign investments stop, Malaysia will be heading not towards an advanced nation status under Vision 2020, but towards the road of destruction by becoming a self-imposed reclusive country.

Original Source: 社會愈保守，國力愈落後