I am very shocked by Gerakan chief Dr Lim Keng Yaik's statement while officiating the party's 30th National Delegates Conference in Kuala Lumpur.

He said: "PAS has implemented some ridiculous restrictions on women like all Muslim women must wear headscarves. They are discouraged from wearing lipstick, not being allowed to work beyond 5pm, and less attractive women are given priority to state jobs."

Wearing head scarves is ridiculous? This is a clear insult to Islam. It is not PAS which created this restriction. Everybody knows that. Lim's statement implies that Muslims believe in a 'ridiculous' religion. He should be more responsible in making statements concerning Islam.

However, I don't blame him for his statement as many Muslim leaders in Malaysia are setting the example in denigrating the religion. How do we expect non-Muslims to respect our religion if we ourselves don't know how?