Dress for the Occasion

Bentayan assembly man Gwee Tong Hiang was booted out of the state assembly for not putting the right attire for the occasion. It may be one own freedom to dress whatsoever one likes at home or in his own office. But it is not right to dress against the rules and regulation of a company at place of work, or in school, or in any uniform unit, not even at a friend's wedding. You just have to dress for the occasion to show your respect to the host.

Here in the Johor state assembly, everyone is expected to dress in the ceremonial attire for the opening ceremony. Regretably our YB Gwee thought he had dressed well for the occasion. Yes he had dressed well, but not right for the ceremony. Thus he had to be sent off. How could you expect the Speaker Datuk Mohd Ali Hassan to respect YB Gwee when Gwee had not shown respect to the YAB Sultan of Johor in the state assembly in refusing to dress for the occasion.

This should serve as a reminder to all YBs and Datuks, there is no racial stigma in any dress code. It is all in the heart. Since we are of Multi racial background, our dresses are designed according to our cultural heritage. There is no particular emphasis in dress designing, merely designed accroding to our multi racial setting. Let us not be too sensitive to such, but learn to love our national culture and accept our unique setting.

Hope our YB Gwee will humble himself to apologize to the YAB Sultan of Johor and also apologize to the state assembly----represented by the Speaker. I wish the YAB Sultan of Johor in His graciousness will accept such apology and try to give time for some to adjust themselves to stamp off any form of prejudices. Peace and harmony is our goal whether be at state level or national level. Malaysia Boleh!