The way I see it, he had no feel of the host's culture and how they dress for official state matters. For an education minister, he sure is not educated about other people's dress culture. He should've asked and learned before the event.
In a nutshell, our political leaders are very xia suay. Pinky's walk and sitting posture, kee chiu's outburst, ministers talking cock all the time, and now this. They xia suay us the people, not the other way around. Yet they see themselves fit to lead and lecture us? Neh!