FEBRUARY 10 — I call upon the Ministry of Higher Education and universities to relax dress codes and focus on improving education quality as well as nurturing talents instead of restricting students’ freedom to dress.

Recently, some students were fined by the University of Technology Malaysia (UTM) management for not adhering to the university’s dress code, such as dying their hair or wearing too many earrings. Also, the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) issued a notice, stating that all male students are required to wear neckties during examinations, and all students are required to wear leather shoes before entering the examination hall. The stringent dress codes caused dissatisfaction and were debated among students in both universities.

As the palace of nurturing critical and creative thinking, a university should be committed to producing students who dare question, criticise, innovate, and create new knowledge by building on the existing knowledge. However, implementing stringent dress codes only creates unnecessary red tape in universities that does not help in nurturing talents.

A university should be an educational institution that accepts and embraces different views, thoughts, and behaviours in order to encourage students to always question and think critically. When a university implements a strict dress code, it does not merely trample on students’ freedom to dress but also, directly or indirectly, suppresses students’ creativity. In the long run, such a restriction only hinders the development of Malaysian higher education, which will be based very much on students' and academics’ creativity and courage to challenge existing thinking.

At the national level, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and many ministers have chosen not to wear neckties. Besides, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul has also announced a relaxation of the dress code for MPs, whereby they will no longer be required to wear ties during parliamentary sittings. Therefore, both the legislative and the executive branches have demonstrated a strong will of serving people and developing the country instead of adhering to unnecessary formalities.

An open and progressive society should not impose values or subjective moral judgments on others. Furthermore, the new government has introduced the "Malaysia Madani” concept, whereby all Malaysians are to be treated fairly in a democracy. As such, all government agencies and universities should follow in the government’s footsteps by embracing progressive values, including respecting students’ freedom to dress instead of fanatically implementing stringent dress codes.

Recently, a woman met a car accident but was denied entry into a police station because of wearing shorts that were above her knees. This incident has reignited fierce debates about whether public servants have the power to refuse to offer services to citizens due to dress codes. Therefore, I urge the government to issue clear directives to all governmental agencies, stating that the top priority of public servants should be assisting the public instead of policing people’s clothing. This will demonstrate the government’s determination to preserve values of openness and progressiveness, which are in line with the concept of "Malaysia Madani”.

Once again, I call upon all universities to follow in the footsteps of the cabinet and the parliament by relaxing their dress codes and not issuing fines to students. At the same time, the Ministry of Higher Education should also advocate openness and progressiveness by instructing universities to respect students’ freedom to dress and to remain focused on elevating the quality of education and research in order to truly push forward higher education reforms.

*Press Statement by DAPSY Varsity Affairs Bureau Director and Tanah Rata State Assemblyman Ho Chi Yang.

**This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.