HOT pants are in.

The tiny, tight shorts that reveal plenty of leg – and even more – seem more suitable for the beach, yet young women are flaunting them everywhere, from malls to restaurants and even in schools.

To horrified parents, they are indecent garb that attracts leers from undesirables. To youthful wearers, showing so much skin these days is no longer bare-faced cheek.

Take National University of Singapore accountancy undergraduate Samantha Kho, who wears shorts to school almost every day. ‘It’s the norm in school – you see a lot of people wearing them,’ she says.

While the 21-year-old does not know if such short shorts are allowed on campus, she adds: ‘I know they encourage us not to wear slippers, but you don’t have to listen.’

A check with tertiary institutions reveals that while dress codes are in place, they are generally not strictly enforced.

‘We treat our students as young adults and grant them freedom in their choice of dressing. When students are required to make presentations in class or attend formal events, most of them do come in formal or business attire,’ says Associate Professor Low Aik Meng, dean of students at the Singapore Management University.

Read the full story in today’s edition of The Sunday Times’

Straits Times