Islamic reasons used by Kota Baru officials to stop emcee's job, claims woman

PETALING JAYA: A woman claims that the Kota Baru Municipal Council (MPKB) stopped her from doing her master of ceremony (emcee) job for Islamic reasons.

Ameera Aida, who is a freelancer, vented her frustrations on Twitter on Friday (March 30)saying that she was emceeing an indoor children's event, while wearing a hijab and loose crew T-shirt, when MPKB officers stopped her.

My 5-day emcee job in Kota Bharu got cut short to 2 days because the @mpkotabharu prohibits malay women from emceeing. It was a kids' event. Indoors. And I wore hijab and loose crew tshirt.

Clients were horrified. Their hands are tied. I am now on a bus back to KL.

(thread) — Ameera Aida (@meeraaida) March 29, 2018

She claimed that she was told "women cannot use a microphone to speak because a woman's voice is aurat".

(For Muslims, aurat are parts of the body that should not be seen in public. However, some conservatives also consider a woman's voice to be aurat, as it could be a "temptation".)

Ameera said she had to board a bus back to Kuala Lumpur despite having paid for flight tickets and hotel rooms for the five-day job. She had only managed to work two out of the five days she was hired for.

She added MPKB's prohibition cost her a job and could affect her career if she was barred from being hired for future events.

Ameera's tweets sparked an online discussion on whether the female voice is considered aurat and whether Muslim female singers, motivational speakers, teachers, lecturers and even politicians will also be prohibited from using microphones in public.