Reported in The Star,

It’s the sexy dress, says council president

PENANG: If the dress was not sexy, the incident would not have happened.

This was Penang Municipal Council president Datuk Abu Bakar Hassan’s response to a complaint that a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera in the City Hall was zooming in on the thighs of women journalists instead of council proceedings.

Abu Bakar was unhappy over the “sexy” attire worn by some women reporters during council meetings.

On Friday, a reporter spotted the image of a woman’s thighs on the CCTV monitor in the control room and alerted other journalists who complained to council secretary Ooi Chin Loo.

New Straits Times journalist Melissa Darlyne Chow, 23, who lodged a police report yesterday, said she was surprised by Abu Bakar’s “sexist” statement.

“He's implying that I was not properly attired and that I deserved the unwanted attention,” she said.

State Local Government committee chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan said he was awaiting a report from the council.

The statement by Dato Abu Bakar is ludicrous. Instead of directing his anger at the perpetrator, his attention is misdirected at a non-relevant issue. Perhaps even he was peeping at the thighs of journalists himself, to notice the sexy attire. He should never have justified the actions of the CCTV controller, absolving him of all guilt and placing the blame on female journalists.

His statements reflect an immature state of mind, highlighting his fitness or lack of, to hold a position of council president. Even his Datukship should be stripped for uttering such a brainless remark.

This is infringement of another's basic human right and Abu Bakar should be chastised for that.

Unfortunately, we have many similar loggerheads in positions of power in Malaysia, dragging Malaysia lower into a pit of destruction while surrounding communities and nations thrive at our expense.