Kelantan senior exco member Anuar Tan Abdullah said that the Kota Baru Municipal Council should show leniency when enforcing its ban forbidding female hairdressers from cutting a male customer's hair, if both parties are non-Muslims.

anuar tan abdullah However, according to Guangming Daily , he stressed that he has no jurisdiction over the matter, and will not interfere in the council's enforcement of the ban.

"The Kelantan state government's policy is simple and clear - no female hairdresser can provide service to a male customer," said Tan, who is state exco for tourism, culture and societal unity.

Tan added that salon owners must understand that leniency does not mean "100 percent freedom".

He explained that the ban has nothing to do with race, but focuses on the concept of no close contact between males and females.

A hairdresser from E-Life hair salon in KB Mall shopping complex was summoned by a plainclothes municipal council enforcement officer on Tuesday night for cutting the hair of a male customer.

MCA leaders have condemned the act as part of PAS' effort to implement Islamic restrictions on non-Muslims.