What if the girls with the K-Pop boys weren't tudung-clad?

This public debacle regarding K-Pop girly-boys hugging our Malaysian tudung-clad girls and kissing them seem to me as a tad, no a whole lot, ridiculous.

Apparently, the infiltration of this evil Korean phenomenon into Malaysia has caused the degradation of our sacred local tradition, customs and beliefs.

Are they really sure that this specific evil Korean phenomenon will cause the downfall of our morals? And are they sure that our local customs are so above-all in the first place?

I was having lunch with a girl friend of mine a few days ago and she asked me a question relating to this issue of K-Pop Romeos seducing our virgin princesses.

"Zan, do you think if someone like me was to be up there on the stage hugging and kissing the prancing singers, all this fuss would even arise?" she asked.

Now to put things into context, this friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) portrays a certain image that might not be consistent with tudung-clad virgins.

She likes to wear skirts that are several inches above her knees, tight leggings with images of wild cats snarling, and tops and blouses that are very 'breathable', let's say.

But she's a nice girl and really, what is all this obsession with perception and stereotyping people? Oh well, this is Malaysia we're talking about anyway.

So my reaction to her question if all this brouhaha would have erupted if it was someone like her was a loud laugh and an aggressive nod in agreement to what she was trying to say.

My guess would be that Malaysians wouldn't give a care if the girls involved weren't tudung-clad because, well, if wouldn't be unbecoming of someone who wasn't tudung-clad.

It seems that many Malaysians are desperate to want to 'preserve' our customs that they they get caught in the trap of defining everything to a simple black or white.

They forget that to be a true human society, there will always be another area that is known as grey. The area thst lies between black and white, or even a mixture of it both.

If Malaysians become blind to grey, then it would be impossible for the country to ever have that moderate stand, and to be able to discuss and debate issues that we encounter as we progress.

Now back to the K-Pop boys and the tudung-clad girls. It seems that now the religious authorities want the girls to surrender or they will issue a warrant of arrest.

Seriously? Is the 'crime' so terrible and heinous as to have to spend all resources to pursue the young tudung-clad girls like she were the criminal of the century?

This is the danger of labelling and stereotyping without giving space for discourse. We start judging based on non-facts before even thinking properly.

Sure, we're a little conservative that the rest of the world and there isn't anything wrong with that. And the K-Pop probably genuinely wasn't aware. Honest mistake.

But unless we really want to live in a closed-up land that doesn't interact with the outside world, we have to be prepared to accept when cultures collide.

Like I said, it isn't wrong for Malaysians to want to protect our culture, but going on a witch hunt and painting negative perceptions is not the way to go about it.