PAS deems belly dancing 'an insult to women'

PAS Youth has slammed MCA for “discriminating against women” for supporting a recent belly dancing show in a mall in Segamat, which allows women to be “ogled by men”.

“Belly dancing at a supermarket is clearly discriminatory against women. These women were dressed in sexy clothes, half-nude, and danced by moving their captivating bodies to the rhythm.

“Women should be venerated (dimuliakan). This is not a woman's place. They have a higher place (in life) as leaders, managers and respectable people.

“Putting them there to be ogled by men is an insult towards women,” its secretary Khairul Faizi Ahmad Kamil (left) said in a statement.

Supporting Segamat PAS who first slammed the belly dancing show, he also censured MCA's Segamat chairperson Dr Lee Hong Tee who said that belly dancing is a healthy and artistic activity.

“If so, is pole dancing in night clubs, which also feature half-naked women, also a healthy and artistic activity?” Khairul Faizi asked.

He said that PAS is only “protecting” society from vice as studies have shown that among factors of sexual crimes are women's revealing clothing and “bedroom antics which stimulate desire”.

PAS is also supported by Persatuan Belia Islam Malaysia (Pembina) which said that MCA's statement is insensitive and extreme.

“I see this as an attempt by an extremists to label Islamic teachings as negative. It is out of line,” its president Azril Hanafi said in a statement.