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Male student at risk of expulsion for wearing shorts in KL university library
He apparently violated the university's dress code.
November 05, 2024, 07:08 PM
A Chinese international student at Universiti Malaya (UM) is reportedly at risk of being expelled after violating the university's dress code by wearing shorts to the library.
The student claimed that security personnel yelled at him, recorded a video and confiscated his student identification card, China Press reported on Nov. 3.
The staff also allegedly threatened to report the incident to his faculty, which would put him at risk of expulsion.
Staff were aggressive and rude: student organisation
Student rights organisation University of Malaya Association of New Youth (UMANY) addressed the incident in a Nov. 4 statement on Instagram.
Noting that the student‘s choice to enter the library in shorts was a "violation of school rules", the organisation said that the focus should be on the "aggressive behaviour" of the security staff.
UMANY added that even though the student covered his legs with long sleeves upon leaving the library, security personnel still treated him "rudely".
It said the incident reflected how the "conservative and authoritarian nature" of UM’s dress code is "wholly inconsistent" with the quality expected from Malaysia‘s premier institution.
"UMANY believes that the real issue is that the dress code gives staff too much authority to interpret and enforce rules regarding what constitutes inappropriate attire," it said.
UMANY thus called on the university to abolish its dress code.
"If the administration truly wants to cultivate critical thinkers, it must create a free, open, and diverse campus," the statement read.
Not the first time
This is not the first time the university's dress code, implemented in April, has come under scrutiny.
Shortly after the dress code was announced, student associations banded together to pressure the university to retract it, The New Straits Times reported.
Previously, a law student was turned away from the library for wearing "a normal shirt and trousers", added UMANY in a Nov. 3 statement in Mandarin.
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