While the Madani government should be lauded for introducing more wearable clothing in government offices, the government should look at the police uniform next.
The uniform must be designed to suit our local weather conditions in order to increase the comfort level of our Royal Malaysian Police.
We can learn from Singapore which has redesigned its police uniform by working with the Officer of the Chief Science and Technology Officer (OCSTO). The new fabric used allows efficient moisture absorption from the body and it is faster drying. This will also allow them to cope better with heat and humidity.
It is also learnt that the Japan Police uniform now uses lightweight fabric that is suitable for hot climate.
Although we do not know about the material used for Malaysia police uniform, we see that our police uniform has the highest number of metal alloys, brass, copper and zinc badges on their uniform, as well as metal badges on their hats, while their counterparts in Singapore and Japan use only embroidered badges.
The shirt buttons used on police uniforms in Japan and Singapore are plastic whereas in Malaysia, metallic buttons are still the norm.
The colour also plays an important role. In Japan, the police wear their summer uniform which is from the lightest colour of greyish blue. We should perhaps choose a special blue colour for the uniform, which attracts the least heat.