Malaysian singer Siti Noor Idayu Abd Moi, 24, posed this question after she was detained by religious police for wearing this sleeveless blouse which they say exposes too much of her back while she was performing in a club

July 6, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 - Malaysia's religious police detained a Muslim singer at a popular club, saying too much of her back was exposed by a sleeveless blouse she wore while performing, media reported on Wednesday.

Siti Noor Idayu Abd Moin, 24, has been ordered to go before the sharia, or Islamic court, at Ipoh in the northern state of Perak, on Aug 6, to face charges of "revealing her body" and "promoting vice", the New Straits Times said.

"I was surprised when the officers told me this top was too revealing," Noor Idayu said after being released from a night's detention on a bond of 1,000 ringgit (US$290).

"Sometimes I wear something similar when I go out in the day. This is sexy? I don't think so."

The singer was picked up along with four members of her band, and subjected to repeated breathalyser tests by officials in futile attempts to prove she had drunk liquor, the paper said.

"When I passed the test, the female officers seemed disappointed and asked me to do it again," Noor Idayu said. "I did so willingly as I knew that I did not drink. Not once in my three years of singing in clubs have I drunk liquor."

Jamry Sury, chief of the Perak religious police who raided the club, told the Star newspaper: "A Muslim woman is not allowed to serve or entertain a man who is not her husband in a place where immoral activities usually take place,"

Noor Idayu claimed that during the raid, the male officers had taken a lot of pictures of her from almost every angle.

"When I was taken to the department’s headquarters in Ipoh, my pictures were taken again. When I asked why they needed so many shots, they said, ‘It’s procedure’.

"Really? It did seem like I was being singled out," she said.

She added: "I felt so insulted when one of the officers, who was holding our MyKad, put them together with some beer glasses and said ‘najis’ (filth). What gave him the right to demean us when it is not clear that we were guilty of anything?"

Noor Idayu, who has been singing in clubs for the last three years, said she did not take any alcoholic drinks and even her breathalyser test was negative.

Her manager, K. Selvaraj, said he was seeking legal advice to protect Noor Idayu’s career and the band’s reputation.

"Band members are not all bad. They are people earning a living for their families."

(Reuters, The Star, NST)

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