A Malaysian state ruled by the opposition Islamic party plans to ban tourists from wearing bikinis under a new dress code to be issued soon, a report said yesterday.
The Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) state government in northeastern Terengganu state has also told hotels to build separate swimming pools for men and women, The Star daily newspaper said.
The move is part of an "educational program to ensure tourists respect the local culture and tradition," assistant tourism state secretary Marzuki Endut told the newspaper.
A committee has been formed to draw up the dress code to discourage tourists from wearing revealing outfits, he said, adding however that those who breached the code would not be punished.
The new policy for separate swimming pools was necessary in the "interest of Muslims," said state tourism executive committee chairman Wan Hassan Mohamed Ramli, admitting though that it may burden developers.
"It is not healthy to have both sexes together in such a situation and environment," Ramli said. "We are not doing something which is beyond understanding but something which is required of Islam."
Hotels in the state which have only one pool have been encouraged to build another one if they have land for expansion, the daily said.
Tourism is the second-largest revenue earner after oil and gas for Terengganu, which was won by PAS in 1999 elections, making it only the second of 13 states to be controlled by the opposition.
Last year, 1.39 million tourists visited the state.
Since coming to power, the PAS government has shut down karaoke joints, unisex salons, pubs and gaming outlets.
Earlier this week, it said it had decided to stop using "women and sex as well as other hedonistic influences" in its tourism campaigns to ensure advertisements did not distort the state's image.
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