The Public Service Department has failed to address the 2 issues raised with regard to the dress code for the public at government departments

I am disappointed that the Director General of PSD, Dato’ Seri Mohd Shafiq Abdullah has failed to address the 2 issues raised by me in his media statement with regard to the dress code imposed by the government departments. He merely parroted the reason stated by CUEPACS President Dato’ Haji Adnan Mat that it is consistent with the Fifth Principle of Rukun Negara, Courtesy and Morality.

Never in my media statements did I advocate people not to be decently dressed when going to government departments. Generally, all of us are dressed decently and some of us are very smartly dressed when meeting government officers.

The 2 issues I raised are as follows:

1. Whether the public can be denied service by government departments merely on the ground that they failed to observe the dress code prescribed by the government departments.
2. Whether government departments have the legal powers to prescribe dress code as a regulation with the force of a law rather than just as an advisory.

The issues of courtesy and morality do not arise at all. I have cited an example of a lady lawyer whose attire is acceptable in the courts but was not allowed entry into an education department because her skirt was only knee length.

Her attire was definitely not discourteous or immoral by the general public’s standard unless someone has imposed his/her arbitrary and subjective views on courtesy and morality.

The PSD has violated the Fourth Principle of the Rukun Negara, the Rule of Law if it insists on making dress code regulations with the force of a law when there is no law empowering them to make such regulations.

I have in my previous media statements explained that Cabinet Ministers and civil servants derived their powers from the laws passed by Parliament. There are laws giving various powers to the ministers and their officers with regard to their respective ministries. There is however, no law conferring powers on civil servants to make regulations imposing dress code on the public.

Any dress code should only be advisorial in nature and never implemented as a regulation with the force of a law.

As this matter involved a legal issue, the PSD should refer this matter to the Attorney General’s Chambers for their views.