I refer to the letter Non-use of the tudung has brought moral decay by Zainol Abideen in which he foolishly places the blame on the incidence of molest, rape etc. on women who do not wear clothes that are perceived by him to be decent.

Let's picture this scenario. A girl walks around in a shopping centre wearing a relatively tight top with jeans, without a tudung. In the quiet corner where she parks her car, she is attacked by a guy with sexual gratification in mind.

Based on Zainol's letter, we can come to the following conclusions:

The girl is to blame because she wasn't wearing appropriate clothing, thus debasing her 'maruah' and lowering her in the eyes of society. The man is sick and depraved, but only because he has been the victim of women exposing their flesh.

I have a problem with the first two.

It is a mistake to equate the clothing (or lack of it) of a women to her moral standing. Granted, one might have doubts if such a person were to parade herself in the middle of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre complex in a bikini, but not wearing a tudung is a far cry from walking around stark naked, to quote Zainol.

Yes, some girls might decide to not wear the tudung, but that doesn't mean they are going to end up as prostitutes to be damned to the fiery depths of Hell. That, I believe, is the sole prerogative of the Almighty.

Whenever there is a case of rape, I have noticed a tendency by certain individuals to shift the blame from the male of the species to that of the fairer skin. 'She asked for it, she wasn't wearing decent clothes'.

I don't need to quote the Quran to point out that Allah gave us brains that are supposed to clamp down on whatever animal instincts that might be present within our being. Men are supposed to be the khalifah , they are supposed to set an example and to protect the fairer sex, not rape them because they have urges that cannot be controlled whenever they see a girl in a miniskirt.

That is just silly. If that is the case, why do five-year-olds get raped? I seriously doubt she was wearing anything provocative at the time. Zainol says that women of the 60s did not wear the tudung because they were not practicing the faith as they should be.

I'd like to see the result of that survey he conducted. Especially since the incidence of crime was way lower back then.

I do believe that there is something wrong with the moral fabric of society, and I believe that it is a concern for all Malaysians. To blame it on the lack of tudung-wearers is just not addressing the issue in its entirety.

The whys and hows on this is another long discussion altogether, but at its foundation, I believe education is of utmost importance.

The teaching of moral values should be inculcated in our education system from the very beginning, and we should do away with the rote learning that is currently present in our Pendidikan Islam and Pendidikan Moral syllabus.