KOTA KINABALU: Sarawak rights activist Peter John Jaban , echo the recent statement by Datuk Sebastian Ting, affirming that LHDN’s enforcement of dress codes is culturally insensitive and unacceptable. Sarawak will not tolerate any form of cultural arrogance or administrative bullying from any federal or state department.
The latest action by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) in Miri denying service because of clothing is not just an isolated misstep. It is a dangerous signal that federal agencies feel entitled to impose Peninsular‑style moral policing on Sarawakians.
Sarawak is a sovereign partner in the formation of Malaysia, not a branch office that can be told how to dress, how to behave, or how to perform our daily lives according to rules imported from outside our culture.
This problem is systemic.
LHDN is only the latest offender.
These incidents show a consistent pattern federal agencies operating in Sarawak feel empowered to impose their own cultural values instead of respecting Sarawak’s diverse reality.
Other departments have previously attempted to enforce arbitrary, non-statutory dress codes on the public, including
Road Transport Department (JPJ): Turning away members of the public for sleeveless attire or shorts.
Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Individuals denied entry to lodge police reports because officers claimed their attire was “inappropriate.”
Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM): Complaints of women being refused service due to dress‑code enforcement by security personnel.
We have also seen repeated incidents in West Malaysia where hospitals and clinics imposed dress‑code rules to the point of denying or restricting public access.
There have already been multiple cases in West Malaysia where hospital and clinic staff enforced dress codes by turning people away or limiting access to essential services.
This is not a dress‑code issue this is a power issue
What LHDN did is not about professionalism. It is about control. It is about enforcing a moral standard that does not reflect Sarawak’s culture, identity, or way of life.
Sarawak is home to more than 34 ethnic groups, with different attire, customs, and weather‑appropriate clothing. No agency has the authority to humiliate the rakyat or deny them essential services for wearing what is normal and acceptable in Sarawak.
If we allow one department to get away with this, others will follow and soon Sarawak will be subjected to a creeping form of moral policing that was never ours to begin with.
Sarawak must draw a clear line such treatment of our rakyat will not be tolerated in our state.
Peter John Jaban of Saya Anak Sarawak demands that,
all federal and state agencies must stop imposing non-statutory dress rules immediately.
The Sarawak Government must defend our cultural autonomy and instruct all agencies including federal ones to respect Sarawak’s norms and traditions.
Putrajaya must stop exporting West Malaysian dress‑code culture into Sarawak.
Sarawakians should never be judged, denied service, or belittled because of their attire. Public counters exist to serve the people not to lecture them on clothing.
Sarawak is not a colony.
Sarawak is not a moral experiment.
Sarawak will not bow to dress‑code policing that has no place in our society and
we will not allow such practices to take root in Sarawak.
