Rihanna Faces Call to Ban Malaysia Show Over 'too Revealing' Costumes

Hardline Muslims in Malaysia are demanding that a concert by the R&B star Rihanna be banned because her stage costumes and dance routines are "too sexy".

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic party (PAS) has called on the authorities not to issue permits for the show, part of the Grammy award winner's "Good Girl Gone Bad" world tour.

The party said her revealing outfits and suggestive dance moves featured in the show were an insult to Asian values and outraged local cultural mores.

But organisers of the Kuala Lumpur concert set for 13 February said that Barbados-born Rihanna, 20, who has had a string of hits including "Umbrella" and "Disturbia", had already agreed to shun skimpy clothes.

Rihanna is not the first to fall foul of the moral guardians. Beyonce scrapped a planned Malaysian concert amid protests while Gwen Stefani appeared in the country but covered up on stage.

Strict government guidelines demand that female performers be covered from the top of their chest, including their shoulders, down to their knees.

The organisers of a 2006 concert by the Pussycat Dolls were fined ?2,000 when the all-girl group was accused of flouting Malaysia's decency regulations.

Kamaruzaman Mohammad, a leader of the youth wing of the PAS, which called for boycott of US goods over Washington's support for Israel's Gaza invasion, said that attending the California-based Rihanna's concert was a form of support for Israel.

"Whether Rihanna realises it or not, we know that the taxes she paid also contributed to the war in Gaza," he said, adding that inviting the star was "akin to insulting eastern culture".

In an online commentary the PAS, which castigated as "too sexy" the stage routines by Avril Lavigne in a concert last year, said that Rihanna was "sexier and more dangerous" than the Canadian star.

However Razman Razali, managing director of Pineapple Concerts which is organising the Rihanna show, said that the singer was "aware of the country's regulations" and had cleared it with the Culture, Arts and Heritage ministry.

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