Controversial lecturer Dr Mohd Ridhuan Tee said women who dress ‘inappropriately’ should not complain if they are sexually harassed for their attire. — YouTube screenshot

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 — Controversial lecturer Dr Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah suggested today that women who dress “inappropriately” should not complain if they are sexually harassed for their attire.

The Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin lecturer also chided those who raised the issue of dress codes in public spaces, claiming it was a smear campaign against Islam to make Malaysia appear like it was being ruled by Afghanistan fundamentalist group Taliban.

“I often see those who like to wear clothes that show their armpits and wear pants that are too short, until I can see everything that is explicit and implicit,” Tee said in his column in Malay daily Sinar Harian.

“What are they trying to show? [But] when they get groped, they get angry! What is all this! Are you trying to show off?”

Tee added that he does not like seeing “women parts” exposed in such a manner as it makes him want to “vomit”.

He then questioned why some women enjoy donning such revealing attire.

“Aren’t they afraid of being bitten by insects?” he said.

Tee also criticised the government offices that apologised for imposing restrictions on dressing, asking if their apologies meant they would only take action if the “ultra kiasu” come to their offices naked.

“Ultra kiasu” is a term Tee popularised initially to refer to members of opposition party DAP but he has since applied it to other groups, including Christians and Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese.

Recently, several women were blocked from entering public institutions and government buildings such as a Penang courthouse, a Road Transport Department office, the Selangor state secretariat, the Sungai Buloh public hospital for wearing knee-length skirts and shorts deemed indecent.

The latest case involved lawyer Katy Chan, who was barred from the Federal Territories Director of Land and Mines’ office on Friday morning for wearing a skirt that was “too short”.

Some of these women were given sarongs by security personnel to cover their legs to fit with the dress code and be granted entry into the buildings.

Last week, businessman and blogger Wilson Ng revealed that he was forced to don long trousers last month to enter the Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s (KLIA) Baggage Services Lost and Found section after airport security told him his knee-length shorts were inappropriate.