Malaysia’s Kelantan State to Require Long Sleeves for Female Workers

 

Kota Bharu, 27 Syawal 1437/01 August 2016  (MINA)  – Women who work at fast-food outlets, supermarkets and stores in the Malaysian state of Kelantan will soon be required to wear long sleeves while serving customers.

Officials there this week announced a new statewide regulation that will take effect in January and will require female employees at such commercial establishments to cover themselves up in the workplace more than they already are.

In predominantly Islamic and religiously conservative Kelantan, all Muslim women are required to cover the entire body when appearing in public – except for the face and hands up to the wrists.

The custom conforms with awrah, an Islamic practice that governs how people cover their bodily parts while appearing in public. Men are required to abide by the practice, too, but the dress code is different for them. While out in public, men in Kelantan must always cover themselves at least from the navel down to the knees, according to the code.

Until now, most employees at fast-food restaurants and markets have worn short-sleeved shirts in the workplace but, starting next year, those establishments statewide will be required to dress their female workers in uniforms with long-sleeved tops.

But some women who live in the state, where members of both sexes queue up in separate lines at markets and where public benches are segregated by gender, and who would be most affected by the new regulation, don’t seem to mind it too much.

The new regulation is a good move for business owners because it is important to receive God’s blessings in running businesses since “covering awrah (bodily parts) is compulsory in Islam,” Ernie Abd Manan, a woman who works as a trader in state capital Kota Bharu, told BenarNews.

Hasnah, a trader from Wakaf Che Yeh, said she agreed with the regulation but hoped the authorities would not be too strict about it and consider employees’ comfort in doing their jobs.

“Employees should be allowed to wear a short-sleeved uniform with the option of wearing hand-socks or jackets. Covering awrah is good especially when it comes to cleanliness if they [employees] are preparing food,” Hasnah told BenarNews.

Local businessmen say they will also abide by the regulation, though they don’t necessarily welcome the rule that could drive up their operating costs.

“We have to support it because we are Muslims. We may not like it but God has said it, so we have to support it,” said Ahmad Nazri Che Omar, chairman of the Siti Khadijah Market Association of Bumiputera Traders.

“We cannot say no because this is the law of God,” he told BenarNews. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)