Dress codes should not be blindly enforced, says Miri mayor

PETALING JAYA: Miri mayor Adam Yii has urged Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali to call for a review of dress codes for visitors at government offices and agencies.

According to The Borneo Post, Yii said that Zuki should clarify the directives issued and added that dress codes are not a law that should be “blindly” enforced.

The Pujut assemblyman said government premises should be more tactful when it came to dress code guidelines.

“The public usually visit government premises like hospitals or police stations to ask for help. In this respect, civil servants should provide good services to the taxpayers and not turn them away just because of their attire, unless it is downright inappropriate or obscene.

"It is unreasonable to deny the public from receiving adequate services from any government agency," he said.

He added it was fortunate that there were no reports of such incidents in Sarawak, claiming it proved that government agencies there had become “relatively enlightened, rational and humane” under Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

Yii is a member of the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), which is a GPS component.

Incidents of the public being denied entry into government buildings, police stations and hospitals have been making headlines lately, with many on social media being critical of the dress code enforcement.