Is Selena Gomez, as PAS believes, the living embodiment of sensuality?

It cannot be denied that sensuality and sexuality is part of her act. Her songs routinely make thinly veiled references to masturbation and coitus. However, the desensitisation of society in the Internet era has made a lot of things permissible that once were not. Whether this is a bad thing for society in the long run or a liberating experience that will allow us to reach heights previously unimagined is something for future generations to debate.

Nevertheless, encroaching liberalisation spurred on by the digital age has made conservative elements around the world inward looking and increasingly restrictive. PAS is one of these. Kelantan, which it rules, is notorious for requiring men and women to use separate payout lanes and for policing the womenfolk’s observance of a strict dress code. This is a reflection of its fundamentalist morals.

But then, Kelantan has some of the worst figures for rape in Malaysia. Perhaps this says something about the paradox of human nature. The more we are deprived of something, the more we crave it, sometimes going to the extent of committing a crime to get our fix.

Deprivation can lead to depravity just as easily as overexposure does. A dive into conservatism does not necessarily fix a depravity of the soul caused by deprivation of basic human needs.

Azmin Ali’s assertion that Gomez’s sexiness is a God-given attribute is one that religious fundamentalists cannot argue against. Neither can they deny that human beings are sexual creatures.

Let’s be clear that every entertainer must adhere to certain standards and guidelines in order to perform here, and Gomez and her team are definitely aware of this. International stars often modify their shows to suit the culture of the audience, after all.

If PAS thinks that Gomez and her team would risk arrest by flouting those guidelines, they have another thing coming as there is money to be made and many more tour stops to cover.

It appears that some members of PAS Youth have been so deprived of sensual pleasures that the merest hint of sexuality makes them fear that they may be unable to avert their eyes in a manner befitting a Muslim when seeing a woman.

Lower your gaze, PAS.