HELPFUL ADVICE FROM A RELIGIOUS LEADER:

ONE of the leaders of Malaysia’s Islamic opposition has upset women in the country by suggesting that they should stop wearing lipstick and perfume to lower the risk of being raped.

Nik Abdul Aziz, the spiritual leader of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, claimed that even women who wore Muslim head-scarves could arouse men if they also wore make-up and perfume. The end result could be rape or molestation, he said.

My advice: carry a .357 magnum, and wear whatever the hell you want. “Spiritual leader,” my ass.

UPDATE: Speaking of spiritual leaders, here’s more advice from Allah. This time I’d say it’s dead-on.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Suraya Yahaya emails from Malaysia:

As a Malaysian woman, I totally support your .357 magnum idea as the perfect “license” to wear whatever the hell we want. Of course, we’ve been doing that anyway (wearing whatever the hell we want that is, the .357 part is kinda tricky) and typically only take notice of Nik Aziz and his “spiritual” comments when we need a joke to tell at the bars….

Preach it, sister.