IT looks like PAS leaders lack knowledge of the Malay heritage and criticising their own traditional attire, said Global Human Rights Federation.
“I wish to remind Kuala Krai MP Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman that Malaysia Airlines (MAB) stewardesses’ uniform in actually baju kebaya. The attire is recognised as Malaysia’s pride with its authentic design and is a fashion icon.
“In fact, baju kebaya is not only used by MAB but also Royal Brunei Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Garuda Indonesia as uniforms for their female flight attendants,” its president S Shashikumar told FocusM.
On Wednesday, Abdul Latiff started the polemic over how Malaysian air stewardesses were wearing “revealing” clothes and he wanted the Government to state its stand on the matter.
“I would like to raise the issue over the rights of Muslim air stewardesses who are required to wear uniforms that do not ‘tutup aurat’ (covering parts of the body that should not be exposed according to Islamic belief).
“There are some who cover up at home or while on land but are forced to wear uniforms that do not cover up due to their job and rice bowl,” The Star reported him as saying.
The PAS leader’s comments at the Dewan Rakyat drew criticism from two former ministers Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who reminded the Government backbencher that there were more pressing issues to deal with at hand.
“It shows that PAS leaders cannot bring any new ideas on how to improve the country,” Free Malaysia Today reported Zaid as saying.
Shashikumar, who had served Malaysia Airlines as its air steward for 20 years, said that the baju kebaya worn by the airline’s female flight attendants were designed by students from the School of Fashion Faculty, Institute Teknologi Mara (ITM) on March 1, 1986.
During his tenure at the airliner, he said that national airline stewardesses often get complimented by their passengers, especially by female foreigners.
“The uniqueness of our baju kebaya uniform is adored by many. It really captures the essence of Malaysia, heavily inspired by our batik and local flowers like fragipani (cempaka), jasmine (bunga melur) and hibiscus leaves,” he mentioned.
Focus on bread-and-butter issues, PAS
With that said, Shashikumar trained his guns against Abdul Latiff and PAS for zeroing in on a non-issue without contributing any ideas to national development.
He added that this was not the first time PAS had made an issue out of air stewardesses’ attire instead of doing real work as elected representatives.
“They should be thinking about how to create jobs for the people and help business owners, both who are struggling to put food on the table due to the economic crisis.
“And I wish to remind PAS leaders that with the loan moratorium ending on Dec 31, more Malaysians are going to face financial hardships because the economy is still sluggish.
“Therefore, I strongly suggest for PAS to change their mentality, instead of looking at everything using a narrow mindset,” Shashikumar concluded. – Dec 11, 2021
Photo credit: Word of Buzz
