Law on UAE dress code; UAE culture minister to be quizzed on dress code

posted on 11/06/2012: 1854 views

The Federal National Council is to demand at Tuesday's session that a law be issued on a UAE dress code so that local culture and sensibilities be respected by force of the law.

Hamad Ahmad Al Rahoumi, a member from Dubai, will be quizzing Abdul Rahman Mohammad Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, on the issue.

Al Rahoumi told Gulf News there has to be a law and it has to be respected. "There has to be respect for the people in the UAE. Residents and tourists should dress modestly and not spread their bad habits for our children to see and imitate,” he said.

The FNC representative stressed the dress code should ensure all residents and visitors respect the tradition of the country in all the aspects and not misuse the freedom.

"I am not demanding that visitors and residents wear our clothes, but their dress should be respectful and not revealing,” Al Rahoumi said, stressing that women wearing revealing clothes are against the UAE's culture and offend local sensibilities.

The law, he said would target expatriates and tourists who violate the traditions, especially with regard to the dress code.

He also suggested that the law also tackle other "unacceptable behaviours” such as kissing in public.

"These behaviour affect our children, who learn from what they are experiencing.”

The representative also demanded that visitors and tourists be informed of the rules and that it is offensive to dress in shorts and mini-skirts or kiss in a shopping mall or in the streets.

"Dress code brochures should be given out at the airport and when the passport is stamped with the visa. Also, there should be big posters in malls and everywhere showing the rules and how women should dress decently.”

Other issues

Al Rahoumi will ask Al Owais, who is also acting Minister of Health, why the rate of cancer incidence is high in the UAE.

The minister will have to answer a third question on salaries of medical interns.

The representative will also demand answers on why the FNC has not been given access to information. – Gulf News

RELATED ARTICLES

09 May 2013	Globalisation: a new threat to the Arabic Language: Nahyan
07 April 2013	‘With 1,000 mosques, Sharjah qualifies to be capital of Islamic culture in 2014’
03 April 2013	Making UAE culture for the world with stuff you'd class as junk
20 March 2013	Sultan hails Sharjah’s cultural movement
13 March 2013	Dubai Culture marks fifth year with extensive repertoire