KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyer and activist Siti Kasim has taken Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) to task over a dress code ruling during its convocation ceremony which prohibits the use of Indian and Chinese traditional attire, the saree and cheongsam.
In a video posted on her Facebook page, Siti said the university is actually dictating to these people (the graduates and their parents) what kind of clothes they can wear on the graduation day.
"Just came across this flyer from UKM about the clothes that graduates and their parents can use (wear) for their convocation ceremony. They say no saree or cheongsam?.
"I really take offence to this because what makes them think they can dictate to us on what clothes we can use (wear), especially our traditional clothes.
"Hey UKM, who do you think you are? Come on, politicians, speak out on this," said Siti in the video.
She asked since when are saree or cheongsam could not be worn by the parents or the graduates themselves.
"This is too much. The infiltration, monitoring and controlling by these people really makes me angry. Speak up and rise people, we have to reject this kind of control towards our lives," said Siti.
According to the flyer, male graduates are only allowed to wear a lounge suit, a complete baju melayu or long sleeve shirt with a tie and dark pants.
The dress code for male guests is the same, except they are also allowed to wear a batik shirt.
As for the female graduates and guests, they are allowed to wear a baju kurung, a loose kebaya or a long sleeve blouse or shirt with a dark long skirt or gown.
Among the attire not allowed to be worn are shorts, jeans, short skirts, saree and cheongsam.