In the most recent “covering up” findings, a woman has come forward to say that she was forbidden from entering the Sungai Buloh Hospital here recently because she was dressed in shorts.
She shared on her Facebook profile (Nisha Daddygal) that she was forced to borrow a patient’s towel to cover up her legs before she was allowed to visit her father who had been warded there. In her post, she wrote that a few security guards at the visitor’s gate stopped her from entering because she was wearing shorts.
The security guards only allowed her in after she had loaned a patient’s towel to cover up her legs.
As seen in a screenshot of her post above, the incident took place on 16th June.
She added that the hospital security personnel had told her that the no-shorts policy came directly from the Ministry of Health.
In a separate report by The Star Online dated 23rd June, the Sungai Buloh Hospital has since apologised over the incident, with hospital director Dr Khalid Ibrahim coming forward to say that it is neither the Health Ministry nor hospital’s policy to stop anybody from going into the hospital based on their attire.
He told The Star:
We apologise for the incident. It shouldn’t have happened. We do not bar any visitors from entering the hospital because of what they are wearing. However, we encourage the public to dress decently when visiting patients.
Dr Khalid said there may have been some “miscommunication” involving the hospital guard, who allegedly barred the woman from entering the hospital.
“We have lodged a complaint with the security guard company about the guard in question,” he said.
Of course, Nisha Daddygal’s complaint comes amid the recent incident where a woman was forced to wear a sarong or be refused service at the Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ) Malaysia (Road Transport Department Malaysia). The JPJ incident caused a public uproar, resulting in netizens stepping out to voice their concerns regarding the unnecessary “dress code” as well as several MPs calling out and questioning JPJ.
What are your thoughts on this recent case though? What if Nisha Daddygal was not a visitor but needed immediate medical attention? Has this need to cover up gone completely out of hand? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments box below.
Sources: MMO, The Star Online.
