GEORGE TOWN, Aug 17 — Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow has ordered the state secretary to discuss the issue of the songkok ruling imposed during the state exco swearing-in ceremony yesterday with the Penang governor’s office.

He said his office held a meeting with the protocol division of the state legislative assembly to further understand the issue this morning.

"Before this, there was no such requirement,” he said.

"We were informed that this requirement was stated in the invitation card but since it (wearing of songkok) was not normally required, some guests may not have noticed it,” he added in a press conference after the launch of the new ferries today.

He said the protocol division stated that foreign dignitaries were exempted from the songkok requirement.

Chow said he has since ordered the state secretary to discuss with the Penang governor’s office to further understand the requirement and the future direction.

"Let the state secretary discuss this first, it was a requirement from the governor’s office,” he said.

Yesterday, some non-Muslim male guests, who were not wearing the songkok, were not allowed to enter the state exco swearing-in ceremony at the Dewan Sri Pinang.

An official invitation letter, issued by the state information department, stated the dress code for Muslim men as dark lounge suits with dark shoes and songkok while non-Muslims, were only required to wear dark lounge suits and dark shoes with no mention of the songkok.