The Road Transport Department (JPJ), amid a firestorm of public online outrage, has admitted that its decision yesterday to order a woman wanting to get some paperwork done at the Wangsa Maju JPJ office to wear a sarong was, in fact, excessive.
In a press statement released earlier today, the JPJ apologised to Suzanna GL Tan, and admitted that there was no regulation in its charter that necessitated a female client in a short skirt had to put on a sarong before being attended to by JPJ officials.
“JPJ would like to firmly state there is no regulation that indicates visitors must be provided with a sarong. Clearly, this is an inconvenience to the visitor,” it said, as quoted by The Star Online‘s Neville Spykerman.
However, the statement did point out that, like other government departments, the JPJ does impose a dress code on visitors to its offices.
This dovetails with a post on the agency’s Facebook page last night, in which it reminded visitors wanting to get their affairs sorted at JPJ branches to observe a “neat, clean, and appropriate” mode of dress:
The issue escalated so quickly on Malaysian social media that Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai had to personally step in and declare that no such regulation existed, and that Tan was wrongfully made to put on a sarong just to be able to receive service at the JPJ office.
He ended his Facebook post by saying that there is “an immediate need” for the JPJ to review its current guidelines.
We’ll just hold off on renewing our driver’s license until it’s okay to turn up at the local JPJ office in lime green Speedos and Mickey Mouse ears, then.
Know about something happening in KL and Malaysia? Want to share? Send us an email:kl@coconuts.co – don’t just read the news, make it!
