Lipstick, High Heels Ban Upsets Malaysian Women

Malaysia's Municipal Council, in its latest bid to avoid rising number of rape cases and to preserve women's dignity, has advised women on forsaking bright lipstick and noisy high heels, a move not acceptable to the city's female sales promoters.

A survey by The Star revealed that many of them felt that the council had gone overboard with its measures to avoid rape and preserve women's dignity.

The circular "advising" women not to apply lipstick and wear leather high heels was distributed at premises licensed by the MPKB.

It was aimed at Muslim females working there.

While they said they accepted the wearing of tudung as part of the MPKB's directive to women in retail outlets, they could not understand what the fuss was about lipstick and high heels.

"I disagree. I do not think there is anything negative about women wearing high heels," Star Online quoted sales promoter Wan Noriana Wan Yaacob, as saying.

She said MPKB should then have to have a buy-back counter for high heel shoes if it was going to stop her from wearing it.

Norshuhaida Che Nasir, 19, a salesgirl at an outlet that sells lipstick, was outraged.

She said that at least natural colour lipstick should be allowed.

"I actually agree with the negative side to putting on excessive make-up. It is like looking at a living corpse," she added.

Source-ANI
TAN/M