To Obey or Disobey?

Mum's typical office lady fashion, and the skirt is below the knee length. It's not even sexy, revealing, inappropriate and whatsoever.

Life is always bound by rules and laws, but sometimes we can't escape from breaking them. Most of the time, there are 2 major factors that caused people to break the law:

i) Our rebellious nature;

ii) Absurd or confusing law.

Well, there's a story I wanted to relate and it happened to my mum weeks ago. We all know Malaysia is a multiracial country, and some of the law is Islamic-themed. Being a chief clerk in a Malay primary school, my mum always follow the dress code, avoiding wearing any revealing clothes (sleeveless blouse, short skirts, etc.). As a stylish office lady, my mum has a variety choices of wardrobe, from blouses and skirts to traditional Malay kebaya. My mum told me that some rules are absolute and we should respect other races' customs too, so just followed without any complaints.

One month ago, I followed my mum to a government office to get an application form. As we reached the car park, the security guards stopped my mum from going in the office, telling my mum that she was wearing skirts. My mum told the guards, "My skirt is below the knee length and I only wear like this to school this morning. I work at a Malay school some more." However, the resilient guards kept on stopping my mum, telling her that she might cause them to lose their jobs, if she disobeyed the rule. In the end, my mum had no choice, but to ask me going to the first floor of the office to get that application form.

When we were heading back, we saw a Chinese lady, wearing black blouse and skirts. The main point is her skirt was quite short (above the knee length) and her blouse was quite tight. From her, we knew that she was an auditor who came to do some auditing jobs in the office. My mum headed to the guards booth, asking the guards why they let the lady in, even though the lady did not follow the dress codes. Then, we heard the most absurd reason on Earth from the guards: Because that lady was an auditor. My mum and I were speechless, and tried not to argue with the guards. I still remembered I had a WTF expression on my face.

Few days later, my mum went back to the government office to submit the completed form. My mum was wearing a blouse and a long skirt that day, and she was also stopped by the security guards from going in the office. My mum was consumed by anger, she ignored the guards and walked into the building, insisting on meeting the officer who was in-charged of the security guards.

After telling the officer about what she experienced with the security guards, the officer immediately apologized to my mum for the guards' ignorance and would take discipline actions on them. My mum told the officer not to take any actions on them, because those guards might be misinterpreting the law and they were just following orders. Besides, they worked as security guards to support their families. Yes, and that was my mum, aggressive, forgiveable and considerate at the same time.

My mum told me: "Human makes rules, but not rules are meant to be followed. Be wise in evaluating a law and show respect to people is far more important".