Wanita MCA slams chess championship organiser for moral policing

PETALING JAYA: Wanita MCA has condemned the organiser and chief arbiter of a chess championship for acting as "moral police" in forcing a 12-year-old girl to withdraw from the event based on a dress that was deemed "seductive".

Wanita MCA chairman Datuk Heng Seai Kie said the key issue should not be about the girl's outfit, but the mindset and motive of the organiser and chief arbiter whom she claimed have misused their powers.

"Playing chess has nothing to do with dressing as it is a healthy activity, and from the photo, she was decently dressed," she said in a statement on Sunday.

The girl was wearing a short-sleeved black and orange striped dress that stops just above her knees.

Heng said the girl's dress is deemed proper for most events and the organiser was unreasonable to revoke the contestant's qualification should she wear a similar outfit. 

She called for those involved in the dress row to be penalised to serve as a stern warning to other narrow-minded individuals from repeating the same mistake.

"From a woman’s point of view, it is disgusting and frustrating to see that women are being ridiculed, bullied and victimised for silly reasons," she said.

At the National Scholastic Chess Championship 2017 in Putrajaya on April 14, the girl was told mid-game by the chief arbiter that her dress was “improper” and not allowed to wear a similar dress for the next round.

The tournament director alleged the short-sleeved dress she was wearing was improper and “a temptation from a certain angle, far, far away”.

The girl’s mother, Chin Wai Ling, said the director’s pronouncement was only made around 10pm when shops were closing, so she did not have time to buy long slacks for the following day’s 9am start time.

Feeling harassed and humiliated, the girl, who is the Kuala Lumpur district chess champion, withdrew from the tournament.

The organiser is reported to be disputing the girl’s complaint. 

The tournament director had told The Star that the organiser would refrain from making a further statement until the investigation was completed.