Alternately, minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar suggested that guests, irrespective of their gender, should have been seated at smaller tables instead of placing the male VIP guest on a large and elaborately decorated table.

“This would look good and non-discriminatory,” he told FMT.

The Sarawakian lawmaker was asked to comment on a report in The Star that he was irritated when he saw women seated at smaller tables during a buka puasa event organised by his ministry.

In reprimanding his personnel, Wan Junaidi remarked that women were not second-class citizens and stressed that he did not want to see such settings in the future.

The Santubong Member of Parliament, however, said he did not think his officers felt that women were second class, and stressed it was all a matter of how the tables were arranged.

“It was perhaps the mistake of the officials who did not see how I would interpret the arrangement.”

Meanwhile, Women’s Centre for Change Executive Director Loh Cheng Kooi praised Wan Junaidi for his actions, calling it a “very positive move”.

Loh said that Wan Junaidi obviously saw that the seating arrangement was disrespectful to women.

“It is not common for us to see separation. When people start separating even at meal time, you are going down a slippery road.”