Malaysian woman fined for wearing shorts in public

The woman, a shopkeeper, was said to violate the Kota Bharu Municipal Council’s Business and Industrial Trade By-Laws 2019, which orders all Muslim and non-Muslim business owners and staff to dress appropriately at work, reported The Strait Times earlier this week.

A shopkeeper in the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu is fined for wearing shorts. Photo from Ooi Beng Cheang’s Twitter

The incident has prompted outrage among social media users in the country, voicing their fears of non-Muslims being subject to Muslim requirements, which is against Malaysian government policy.

Responding to the incident, the Minister of Local Government Development Nga Kor Ming stepped out and urged authorities at the town of Kota Bharu to retract the fine.

“This is a non-Muslim shopkeeper in her own premises so it is her right to wear what she wants,” Nga said.

He reassured people that non-Muslim’s freedom to dress was guaranteed in the federal constitution.

It is reported that the woman’s adopted father, Sunny See Yeap Seng, paid the fine on her behalf and asked people to lay the issue to rest, as he didn’t “wish for it to cause discord among people.”