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A 35-year-old woman in Kelantan, Malaysia, was issued a compound notice for wearing shorts in her own boutique during a check by the Kota Baru Municipal Council (MPKB) on Jun. 25, 2023, according to local Malaysian media.
According to MPKB's president Rosnazli Amin, the woman was found to have committed an offence under section 34(2)(b) of the Malaysian Business and Industrial Trade By-Laws 2019.
According to Sin Chew Daily, the law states that non-Muslim business owners and their non-Muslim employees must wear "decent" clothes within the premises.
Received a compound
The woman told Sin Chew that seven to eight officers from the city council came to her boutique shortly after she opened her store.
Two female officers came into the store while the rest of the officers stood outside.
She said the officers checked her business license and found no issues with it, but they still issued her a compound notice.
A female officer told the owner that her shorts were too short according to their requirements, which stated that the shorts must at least cover the knees.
Image via The Malaysia Insight.
Indecent clothing
When contacted by local media, Rosnazli confirmed that the woman was issued a compound notice for wearing indecent clothing.
Image via @sitikasim/Twitter.
According to NST, Rosnazli said, "The non-Muslim owner was found to have been wearing shorts at public places, and for that, she was slapped with the compound (notice)."
Rosnazli claimed that the by-laws "existed a long time ago" and were understood by many locals, including non-Muslims.
Did not think there was anything wrong
Rosnazli told Sin Chew that the photo of the woman posing with the fine, uploaded on Facebook, was misleading as she wore a different shirt when she was handed the notice.
The shirt the woman was wearing when she was issued a compound. Image via Sin Chew.
The woman explained to reporters that she was wearing the same blue denim shorts when she was fined.
She claimed the pink shirt had gotten wet, so she changed into a black T-shirt.
She told Sin Chew that as she was "small-sized", the oversized pink T-shirt had covered her shorts, but reiterated she did not think there was anything wrong with her attire.
Backlash
The Kelantan Chinese Chambers criticised the MPKB yesterday for issuing a fine instead of giving a warning first, Malaysiakini reported.
Rosnazli urged female business owners to dress modestly.
"Kelantan is under an Islamic government. Although (non-Muslims) have freedoms, there should be mutual respect for different cultures and traditions," he said, as quoted by Malaysiakini.
Top image via @sitikasim/Twitter and Sin Chew.