Of strange laws

I saw this article in The Star last Thursday.

I'm not writing this to share the article's talk on Malaysian outdated laws, but the funny US and UK laws mentioned.

But first, a comment on "grammar". (Sorry, I've been grumbling about that quite a bit lately, haven't I?) The article starts with

"THE phrase “the law is an ass” is attributed to Charles Dickens.

It originates from Oliver Twist after the character Mr Bumble is told: “The law supposes that your wife acts under your direction”.

What one of the foremost classical writers of English literature actually wrote was: “If the law supposes that, the law is an ass, an idiot.”

No, he wasn’t using grammar akin to the Manglish being taught in our schools today. It was just that the rules of the language were not quite defined during his era."

I don't understand. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT SENTENCE? The grammar looks perfect to me. After all, the "that" in "If the law supposes that" refers to "your wife acts under your direction”.

Okay, grumbling aside, here are a few funny laws mentioned in the article:

In New York, adultery is still a crime and one can be fined US$25 (RM75) for flirting.

I'm guessing that the fine for flirting only applies to married individuals?

It is illegal for a woman to be on the street wearing body-hugging clothes but she can go topless in public, provided she is not doing it for any business.

(That's still in New York)

In Denver, Colorado, the law states that dog catchers must notify dogs of impounding by posting for three consecutive days, a notice on a tree in the city park.

Now this is a good one :D

Apparently it is also unlawful to lend one’s vacuum cleaner to a next-door neighbour.

This I do not understand...

More than eight women are not allowed to live in the same house in the state of Tennessee because that would constitute a brothel, while Encyclopaedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a formula for making beer at home.

Now that second part sounds a bit like something that could happen in Malaysia :P

In President Barack Obama’s home state of Illinois, it is now illegal to wear sagging pants. A new law requires pants to be “secured at the waist to prevent the pants from falling below the hips, causing exposure to the person or the person’s undergarments.”

A new law?? How new? I thought sagging pants were the new fashion...

And in the UK:

[...] it is illegal to die in Britain’s Houses of Parliament and sticking a postage stamp bearing the Queen upside down is deemed an act of treason.

I can sort of understand the second one...but the first one is ridiculous. By the way, I would like to know what the punishment is for dying in the Houses of Parliament :P

In Liverpool, where footballers and fans tend to strip off their shirts in celebration of goals, it is illegal for a woman to be topless – unless she is a clerk in a shop selling tropical fish.

Why a clerk? And, WHY tropical fish?? Hahaha...I really wonder since when this law has been around. Probably before the footballers started stripping off their shirts?

All this as an introduction to criticism of certain Malaysian laws. If you want to read more about that, go and read the article...I'm only sharing the feel-good stuff ;P

(Though how true these are, I have no idea...)