Malaysia says no to punks in school

Malaysia says no to punks in school

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Malaysian students sporting spiky or dyed hair in the fashion of "punks" will have to adopt a more conservative hairstyle if they want to stay in school, Education Minister Najib Abdul Razak said yesterday.

Speaking on the television program Malaysia Today, Najib said he had ordered officials to investigate punk culture among students.

He said students with punk hairstyles would not be allowed to remain in school. His comments followed newspaper articles last week in the Malay-language newspaper Utusan which described the growing popularity of the punk culture in Malaysia.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, reacting to the articles last week, urged Malaysian youths to reject punk fashions and other "negative Western influences"