On Wednesday, the Kelantan State Assembly passed amendments to the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Procedure Enactment 2002, which includes a provision allowing for public caning. And yesterday’s Utusan Malaysia’s front page headline read “Caning in Public, Preparation When RUU355 is Passed”. While welcomed by some, the Bar Council Syariah Law Committee chairman Datuk Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari says that the Kelantan has acted “in excess of its jurisdiction”. Today we ask what this move augurs for the country as a whole.