July
19,2000
AP
News
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Islamic politicians in a Malaysian
state said Wednesday that barbers will no longer be allowed to cut both women's and men's hair.
The fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS, will give salon operators in Terengganu state until the end of the year to choose whether they want male or female clients, the national Bernama news agency reported Wednesday.
"You must have separate premises to deal with female clients,'' Wan Muttalib
Embong, the top state official for local government, housing and environment, was quoted as saying.
Once little more than a small group of radical clerics, PAS won a stunning victory in November by wresting Terengganu from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's ruling United Malays National Organization, retaining control of neighboring Kelantan state and tripling its seats in parliament.
In Kelantan and Terengganu, PAS has forced Muslim women to wear headscarves, ordered separate lines for men and women at supermarkets, and curbed the sale of alcohol and restricted entertainment.
There are no such restrictions anywhere else in this predominantly Muslim Southeast Asian nation.
