I tell him some ethnic Chinese are worried that he plans to separate the sexes in cinemas and perhaps in shops. I promise it won't happen. To get a sense of the effect of the current edicts, I set out into the capital on a Friday evening in search of a beer. My state-run hotel, the Perdana, does not serve alcohol. But in the nearby privately owned Murni Hotel, a few steps away from the PAS headquarters, a Chinese restaurant is full of drinkers.
Beer is also available in the upstairs karaoke lounge.
I thought such places were outlawed, along with unisex hair salons and discos, yet apparently not. In a ground-floor side room, two petite Chinese women cut and shampoo men's hair, while waiting customers nurse beers. Down the street, I find a busy video shop, which I also thought would be taboo. Some guys in a nearby gas station hoot and leer after her. She struts back.