Avoid Raising Trivial Matters In Parliament, Speaker Tells MPs

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27  -- Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul has advised Members of Parliament (MPs) to refrain from raising trivial matters during parliamentary sessions, provided these do not contravene the Standing Orders of the House.

He said this following concerns raised by Kulai MP and Deputy Minister of Communications, Teo Nie Ching, regarding the action of opposition MPs questioning the attire of female parliamentarians during Dewan Rakyat sittings.

“Trivial matters like this, as long as they do not violate the Standing Orders, I think should not be brought up,” Johari said while presiding over the debate on the Registration of Persons (Amendment) Bill 2025 at Dewan Rakyat today.

Earlier, Teo recounted an incident last Monday where Datuk Rosol Wahid (PN-Hulu Terengganu) criticised Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said’s attire for lacking a collar when she tabled the Legal Aid and Public Defence Bill 2025 for the second reading.

“If we refer to Standing Order 41(F), it only specifies that female MPs shall wear either national dress, a sarong or a skirt of at least knee-length and and long-sleeve blouse; it does not mention anything about collars.

“Today, I am wearing a V-neck blouse. So, I call on the Speaker...to please advise the male MPs sitting there (in the opposition) not to teach or lecture women on how we should dress,” she said.

-- BERNAMA