Cabin Crew Union Tells Deputy Minister To Focus On COVID-19 Instead Of 'Tutup Aurat' Issue
Women, Family, and Community Development Deputy Minister Siti Zailah recently said that flight attendants should dress modestly.
By Tamara Jayne — 16 Mar 2020, 04:10 PM
Women, Family, and Community Development Deputy Minister Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff recently received flak for saying that female flight attendants should wear shariah-compliant attire
Women, Family, and Community Development Deputy Minister Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff.
Image via Sinar HarianAccording to Sinar Harian, the deputy minister said that the policy will only apply to Muslim women and that she will be meeting the Religious Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, to push for flight attendants to cover their aurat.
In response to her statement, the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (NUFAM) president said that the deputy minister should get her priorities right
"Why talk about their uniforms now when the women are facing so many other issues," NUFAM president Ismail Nasaruddin told Free Malaysia Today.
"They don't even know if they will still have jobs. Obviously, this is not the right time."
Several Malaysian politicians also emphasised that she should be focusing on helping the 13,000 Malaysia Airlines (MAS) staff, who have been asked to take unpaid leave due to the COVID-19 outbreak, instead of on their attire
Last week, MAS employees were told to take up to three months of unpaid leave from April to help cope with the impact of COVID-19 on the travel industry. To help with lowering costs, MAS group chief executive Captain Izham Ismail also announced a 10% pay cut for its senior management, reported Malay Mail.
On 14 March, Bersatu youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman tweeted that the deputy minister should focus on resolving the MAS issue first.
"Most of them are young people," he wrote.
In a Facebook post today, 16 March, former Women, Family, and Community Development Deputy Minister Hannah Yeoh reiterated that the timing to bring up such an issue was wrong.
The deputy minister has apparently shut down her Twitter account today after causing an uproar over a recent controversial tweet about COVID-19
Datuk Siti Zailah had tweeted, "The likelihood of dying from the Coronavirus is only 1%, while the possibility of dying at any moment is 100%."
"Let's renew our faith and fear God, truly death is real and it comes unexpectedly."
