Reply #20: It's especially interesting in Malaysia.

[Withywindle]

Malaysia is a very diverse and cosmopolitan country. It's officially Muslim, but there are very sizable Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist and Christian minorities. They all have their own temples and shrines and churches, and for the most part get along OK. In the cities, people tend to be secular and interested in business primarily (Kuala Lumpurians are a lot like New Yorkers, really).

Sharia law only applies to Muslims there, and in minor matters like this, it's usually not enforced much. (Women in nightclubs with a headscarf on and a martini in hand? Perfectly normal.) But any time you have a set of laws that only apples to some people and not others, it's creepy to us. Particularly when they are selectively enforced. Somebody must have wanted to 'make an example' of this woman, for some reason. Which kind of is like jim crow, in reality. Some people got away with bending the rules - others paid a horrible, horrible price, and that is random and unpredictable, which is in itself a form of terrorism.

I'm no expert on Malaysia, but I've visited the country and spoken with many of the people, and it is only a very radical minority who would support this.