PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A woman wearing pants was denied entry into her daughter's convocation at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) for being "inappropriately dressed", though she has admitted that she made a mistake.

"I don't think I was inappropriately dressed, but I was wearing pants, which was against their dress code," she told The Star Online.

It was reported that Ms Marjorie Abdullah had gone to the university to witness her daughter's graduation, only to be approached by security personnel and told that she could not be admitted to the hall as her outfit was inappropriate.

Ms Marjorie, however, claims to be bemused by the reaction a post by her on Facebook has received as the incident occurred in 2013.

"I was shocked at the Facebook tsunami that ensued, and am quite bemused by it all," she said.

Ms Marjorie said she had posted the picture of her at the graduation simply because she had wanted to share photos of her and her children, and she found the story of what had happened to her "amusing".

On her experience, the stay-at-home mother said she was disappointed by her experience.

"I was trying to understand but I was flustered and I am not fluent in Malay, so my son was translating.

"He tried to appeal as I had come all the way from Sarawak but they refused to reconsider," said Ms Marjorie, an Irish woman who is married to a Malaysian lecturer.

Ms Marjorie was wearing a tudung, a long-sleeved blouse, pants and sandals.

"I was, of course, very disappointed but realised the mistake was mine and there was nothing I could do about it," she said.

Ms Marjorie said that she had expected to wait outside until the ceremony was over, but her daughter Nadia and her fiancé left their convocation ceremony to join her after they heard what had happened.

"We went to a sushi restaurant and had a delicious lunch in celebration of their graduation," said Ms Marjorie.

When asked about her thoughts on dress codes, Ms Marjorie said that she agrees with them, but believes that there should be some leniency.

"I have been to other graduations wearing similar clothes and it was deemed appropriate. I especially cannot understand why women cannot wear pants," she said.