KUALA TERENGGANU – The Terengganu government has been urged to take more aggressive measures in strengthening its tourism guidelines, especially when it comes to Muslims.
Ladang state assemblyman, Zuraida Md Noor said this is because of a violation of the dress code involving Muslim female tourists, who were seen wearing revealing attire such as shorts, and singlets with no headscarf in public places.
She said it violates the tourism guidelines that were launched together with the guidelines for entertainment, cultural performances and sports that require female Muslim tourists to wear decent attire that covers their aurah (areas of the body that should be covered to protect their modesty).
“I witnessed female Muslim tourists shamelessly wearing shorts, singlets, and no hijabs. More and more people are daring to wear revealing clothes to visit our tourist spots.
“There are two possibilities here, either there are still many who do not know about the guidelines issued by the state government or they know but chose to disobey due to lack of enforcement,” she said during a debate session at the Terengganu State Legislative Assembly sitting today.
Zuraida urged that syariah-compliant monitoring be carried out throughout the state including in hotels, islands, resorts, entertainment centres, cinemas and so on.
She added that the effort is part of the Islamic propagation agenda and the state government’s commitment towards a developed, blessed and prosperous Terengganu.
“Furthermore, Terengganu’s tourism industry has also been recognised as a Muslim-friendly destination through the Islamic Quality Standard Award (IQS) by the Universal Crescent Standard Centre (UCSC).
“It is a catalyst to show Terengganu as an international Islamic tourism corridor and global Islamic destination hub,” she added. – October 3, 2023