[MGG]
Sex And the Malaysian Judge
The
Bolehland chief justice, Tun Eusoff Chin, wants women lawyers to dress conservatively;
they should not wear tight slacks, figure-hugging dresses or low-cut blouses which show
off cleavage. Why? "Judges, both men and women, being seated on a
higher platform than the rest of the court, could easily be distracted by the overt
display of the body by lawyers wearing low-cut clothes," he tells reporters in
Seremban (NST, 01 November 00, p4). Malaysian judges, both men and women are so
randy, he infers, that the court must act to dampen their desires! Why did he
have to say this? If court decorum requires it, then why explain? Does it require
a court circular? Why could not some court clerk call the offending lawyer quietly
aside and whisper into her ear? But the chief justice wants to codify conduct in
court, and issues a dress code, which has been changed so often that it threatens to be
like the federal constitution.
Besides, the chief justice
does not think what he says to reporters and in court. So he puts his legal foot
in his mouth. Lawyers must adhere to a dress code in his court; but they
are free to go on holidays with judges, especially if they have cases before them in
court. Lawyers these days must know not the law but the judge. That is in
keeping with the highest standards of Bolehland justice. But not when lawyers
wear what excites men and female judges in court. Not just women. Badges, emblems,
insignia, black turbans unnecessarily excite judges. Indeed, the dress code
itself is to restrain judicial libido. I had not realised, until the chief
justice mentioned it, that judges could not sit on the bench unless certified to be
randy. But since they should not be randy in public, certainly not in court, the
lawyers must be suitably restrained from exciting them sexually.
But when the Kelantan mentri besar, 'Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat,
cautioned women about
their skimpy women's dresses, cabinet ministers forcing men to commit adultery, in fact
and in the heart, women's groups, UMNO politicians rushed in where fools would not.
It was a storm in a teacup in which the uproar is forced not on what he said but what
he would have. And like all storms, it disappeared as quickly as it had begun. Political
correctness required he be attacked. And he was. When the chief justice
says some stupidity which is worse since it reflects upon the decorum of the court and
the standing of the judiciary, there is not a beep. Instead, the deputy prime
minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tells us about how fair and just the courts
are. The 'Tok Guru should be condemned for what he said; but the chief
justice's stupidities reflect the impartiality of Malaysian justice. Where are
all those groups incensed with what the Kelantan mentri besar said about women?
Why have they not challenged the chief justice's statement? Or is the PAS leader
attacked
because it is politically wise to do so, and not the chief justice because he dispenses
injustice?
M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my
