"Since the prettier candidate has already been blessed by God, it is only right that we should hire the uglier one," said Nik Abdul Aziz during a lecture to government employees in the Malaysian state of Kelantan. "After all, if we do not choose the ugly candidates, who will?"

Aziz, Chief Minister of Kelantan (one of Malaysia's most fervently Islamic states), explained the thinking behind his latest decree. "There are far too many pretty women in government offices at the moment, distracting male workers and lowering business efficiency with their pert and yielding tightness. But when ugly women are employed in an office, then the work rate increases wondrously. Besides, we must be ever watchful for possible immoral activities, and it is wellknown that pretty women cause unhealthy activities that lead to insanity, blindness, sickness and bends. That is why, from now on, thorough ugliness must be considered a deciding factor at all job interviews." (Utusan Malaysia, 25/10/96)