Sorry story of saree phobia

IT’S a 5,000-year-old garment and has been found in the Indus Valley civilisation, one of the earliest in the world. It has been called the nine-yard wonder for the myriad ways it can be draped over a person. It’s timeless – both ancient and yet modern.

It can also be a most modest form of dressing, with almost all women in India wearing it at one time or another. Muslims wear it too, with the cloth covering their hair and serving as a veil.

In fact, there are old pictures going around showing former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s bride, now Tun Siti Hasmah Ali, wearing it at their wedding some 67 years ago.

I am, of course, talking about the saree, which has been around for a long, long time. It has been worn for all occasions, both as an everyday garment and as finery for major events.

Yet, there are those in the country who seem to find it offensive.

In the latest case, a school in Klang Valley considered it a punishable offence for Indian students to wear the saree to a National Day event.

Those who did were listed as students who flouted the dress code and were placed under the “Sistem Sahsiah Diri Murid”, which could affect their disciplinary record.

It’s quite strange, really. What is it that the school in Kajang found offensive? Yes, there are cases when women wear rather revealing blouses with their saree. You see that a lot in Bollywood movies. But those are blouses, not sarees. We must not lose sight of the forest for the trees.

Not many women, both in India and Malaysia, wear those glitzy outfits. They wear the saree for comfort, not to show off their bodies.

In fact, in Indian culture, wearing the saree is a sign of respect for the elders and family values. It brings a sense of dignity and grace and is even considered a symbol of modesty and femininity.

It’s certainly not about sexploitation.

The school, in this case, could have set a rule on the body parts that need to be covered. There was no need for an outright ban.

But it didn’t. It chose the ban, which smacks of a certain prejudice. We have seen it before. This school is not the first to come up with such a ruling.

Last year, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) barred both Indian and Chinese traditional costumes from its convocation ceremony.

For males, Western outfits – coat and tie – and baju Melayu were allowed, while women had to wear baju kurung or baju kebaya. The cheongsam and saree were barred even though they would be worn under the graduation gowns.

Parents who wanted to see their children graduate proudly in their traditional clothes cried foul. And the university took down the guidelines.

In May this year, a school in Ipoh decided that sarees would be banned during Teachers Day and Hari Raya celebrations, although students were encouraged to come in ethnic clothing.

The excuse was laughable; the school claimed sarees were unsuitable for Malaysia’s hot weather.

Really? My mother wore it all the time. My sisters, aunts and other women in the family also wear sarees often enough. None of them have complained about the weather.

Almost all women in India, and even Pakistan and Bangladesh, wear sarees. If you think the weather there is cooler than ours, you really need to go back to school – for lessons, not to run them.

I even Googled it and came up with this: “... the benefits of wearing a saree for women are its breathability and comfort. Sarees are usually made of lightweight and breathable fabrics like cotton, silk, or linen. These natural materials allow air circulation and prevent excessive sweating, providing comfort during hot and humid weather.”

There goes the school’s claim that sarees are too hot for our girls.

Maybe the real problem lies in snooty old folk and moral policemen who believe the girls look too hot in sarees.

We need to have some sense in how we draw up rules. We live in a multicultural society with so many different traditional attires to choose from. We can consider ourselves fortunate for that.

Whether it’s the Sabah and Sarawak ethnic clothes, the traditional Malay outfits, the Chinese samfu or cheongsam, the saree, or the Punjabi salwar suit, all are clothes for all Malaysians.

We should wear them proudly, embracing them all as part of our national heritage. They are not something to just put on posters before Malaysia Day, only to be looked at with disdain at other times.

What I find really offensive is that these traditional clothes of Malaysians are frowned upon while the coloniser’s suit and tie are said to be okay.

Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was always clad in a saree. No, there was no “menjolok mata” there. And there was no reason to bar the outfit even when she visited Malaysia.

At the recent G20 summit in India, the Japanese prime minister’s wife was clad in a brilliant green gold saree with a pink blouse. Again, there was not a hint of a lack of morals in her outfit. News portals called her elegant and rocking.

So, why do our education folk get hot under the collar every time they see the saree? They seem to need some education themselves.

The school in Kajang has, after intervention by the Education Ministry, decided to allow traditional clothes for future events.

That’s good to hear, but the thing is, why did it happen in the first place? And how long before we hear of another such case again?