Miss Malaysia World 2013 organisers today met religious authorities and believe that Muslim women might be allowed to participate in the pageant after all.
Anna Lim, the pageant's licensee and organiser, said Federal Territories Islamic Department (Jawi) officials have heard her arguments and will decide on the matter by Monday or Tuesday.
"They said that even if they make an announcement on Tuesday, it still wouldn't be too late. Sounds promising isn't it?" Lim told Malaysiakini when contacted.
The meeting, initiated by Lim, took place today at the Jawi headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Jawi was represented, among others, by its director Che Mat Che Ali.
Lim described Che Mat as a "very nice man" who was open to discussions.
During the meeting, Lim said she had brought to the attention of Jawi representatives that the pageant format was tweaked to suit Malaysia.
"Although we have a swimwear session, Muslim women have the option to wear sports attire," she said.
Invite extended to Jawi
She also explained to them that the Miss World 2013 will be held in Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim nation - and will not feature a bikini competition.
"They will be wearing either a sarong or a pareo as a mark of respect local culture," she said.
The programme details of both Miss Malaysia World and Miss World were also submitted to Jawi.
"I told them that they can attend tha pageant to see for themselves and that we are not going to go against them," she added.
Four Muslim women had made the top 20 finalist of Miss Malaysia World 2013 but were later dropped by organisers upon request from religious authorities.
Jawi has initiated a probe against the four for allegedly insulting Islam.
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