Fridae

Police and state religious officers raided a lounge in the Malaysian town of Muar on Monday night where the "Queen of PaperDolls 2002" was being held.

The Malaysian Star reported the event to be the "largest gathering of transvestites in this small town also known as the furniture hub in the country."

The team headed by Johor religious officer Abdul Rahim Mahmud arrested 80 of the nearly 200 drag queens, four lounge workers found hiding inside a secret compartment behind a cabinet and seized contest prizes such as hampers.

The paper also reported that the drag queens came from various states in Malaysia who "knew of the contest through their networking."

The drag queens will likely be charged under Section 7 of the Syariah Criminal Enactment 1988 which prohibits Muslim men from wearing female clothes and acting like women at a public place.

If convicted, they can each be fined up to RM1,000 or jailed six months or both. The Police added that the organiser did not have a permit to hold the contest.