Selangor Speaker: Assembly 'dress code' not a sexist directive

PETALING JAYA: It was not a personal attack nor an attack against women, says Selangor State Assembly Speaker Ng Suee Lim on the dress code issue involving Bukit Lanjan PKR assemblyman Elizabeth Wong.

Ng said his warning was merely an attempt to bring order and discipline to the House as opposed to an attempt at telling women representatives what to wear.

"Let us not twist the situation to make it sound like gender bias. It is about the discipline of our assemblymen – regardless of gender," he added.

Ng said this was not the first time he had remarked on a representatives' choice of clothes, saying he had chided Taman Templer assemblyman Mohd Sany Hamzan before.

He said he made the ruling on Tuesday (March 19) for everyone to wear dark-coloured blazers during the state assembly seating.

Ng also said he would include the term "dark-coloured blazer" in future invites for the state assembly seating.

He said this after Elizabeth Wong's statement in Malaysiakini, chiding Ng for criticising her choice of outfit at the state assembly on Tuesday.

Wong had dressed in a white blazer, one she had worn many times in the past.

In her statement, Wong said that the choice of blazer should not be an issue.

"In this day and age, why is it men still have to determine how a woman legislator dresses?" she questioned.

Wong had said there was no ruling barring women from wearing light-coloured clothes.

She said the only rule was that female representatives needed to dress in a respectful manner and be in a blazer.

"The speaker made his ruling at 1pm, which is the exact time the assembly adjourned. Which meant there was no room to question or debate the issue.

"When I told the speaker the 'colour code' does not apply to women, and when I showed him the notice from his office, he said he made the ruling then and there," she explained.

When asked if Ng would allow assemblymen to debate on the new ruling, he said they would have to raise a motion to do so.

Wong, however, was not seen at the Selangor state assembly seating on Wednesday (March 20).