A Perak beach resort has called off a preview for an international bikini contest after drawing the ire of the state government, its staff said today.

The Pangkor Island Beach Resort decided to scrap the promotion for the Miss Bikini World Hawaii pageant during a beach party next month, said Doris Chin, the resort's director of sales and marketing.

The pageant is scheduled to take place in Thailand later this year.

full moon beach party, miss bikiniThe decision followed a meeting yesterday with officials of Perak, who deemed the programme unsuitable in this conservative country.

Muslim opposition politicians also protested against it.

"We will not have any Miss Bikini previewing,” Chin told AFP.

"We respect the government requirement and the local culture."

The pageant launch, which was to include ice carving, would have been part of a two-day beach party and DJ contest at the resort on Oct 7 and 8.

Chin said the party would go ahead but there would be no models in bikinis walking on stage.

The state youth wing of the PAS had earlier protested at the resort’s plan to promote the bikini pageant.

"We hope for swift action from the state government and stakeholders in maintaining Muslim morals and society in general because clearly the programme indirectly damages the morals of our young," its secretary-general Salman Saleh said in a statement.

PAS frequently protests against concerts by international artists such as Beyonce and Gwen Stefani, leading some of them to avoid Malaysia, which also has a strict dress code requiring performers to be covered from shoulders to knees.

- AFP