The Kiss Crusade

For crying out loud. Everyone is a wannabe JAIS officer now. *JAIS=Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor @ Religious Officers

I received this e-mail from the Bar Council.


To: Undisclosed-Recipients
cc:
Subject:Press Statement

After learning from newspaper reports that one Ooi Kean Thong was charged by Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur for "indecent behaviour" alleged to have been exhibited by him in a park, the Bar Council has procured a copy of the Summons and ascertained the precise nature of that charge.

Mr Ooi is charged under S.8(1) of the Parks (Federal Territory) Bylaws 1981, which reads : "any person found behaving in a disorderly manner in any park commits an offence". The basis of the charge, as described in the Summons, is that Mr Ooi had allegedly hugged and kissed a lady friend at around 5:20 p.m. on 2/8/03 in the park of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre.

The Bar Council is amazed that "hugging and kissing" can be termed "disorderly conduct". If, as it is widely assumed, the charge was proffered because a display of affection in public offends an out-of-sync sense of decency of some one or more officers in DBKL; then DBKL must be reminded that it is not for their officers to waste ratepayers' money in order to upkeep their subjective concept of morality.

Hugging and kissing are forms of expression of affection that are so commonly observed in 21st century Malaysia. The Malaysian public, young and old, are familiar with such scenes on television. The society does not find them objectionable. Freedom of expression, as guaranteed by our Constitution, must not be willy-nilly curbed, let alone punished, by reference to the lowest common denominator suggested by the most conservative members in a society.

The Bar Council urges DBKL to forthwith withdraw this frivolous charge against Mr Ooi. DBKL should move forward into the third millennium and effectively serve the people of Kuala Lumpur; and not occasionally and selectively appoint itself as a moral guardian.

Dated 7th June 2004

Hj Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari
Chairman
Bar Council

And then I read this piece in the Malay Mail

Cops' effort to trace amorous couple hits a snag.

PENANG: Police have encountered a snag in their search for a couple who were caught having sex in a car near Bukit Kayu Hitam on Sunday by soldiers patrolling the woods near the Thai border.
The four soldiers, who 'ambushed' the couple, apparently did not see the car's registration plate before it made its getaway.
Kubang Pasu district police chief Superintendent Aris Ramli said that without this information, they could not trace the couple.
"At the moment, there is very little that we can follow up on," he said, adding that police are trying to establish what happened.
It was reported that in the 3pm incident on Sunday, a team of four soliders patrolling the Sungai Badak/Bukit Kachi area spotted a Proton Aeroback parked in an area normally avoided by civillians.
Suspecting that its occupants were smugglers, the soldiers, from the Sixth Malay Regiment in the Bukit Pinang camp, sneaked up on the vehicle, only to find a naked couple in the car.
In panic, the driver reversed the car and nearly ran over the soldiers, who fired twice at the car.
One shot missed while the other hit the car's tyre. However, the couple managed to escape.
The soldiers later lodged a report at the Bukit Kayu Hitam police station.
Aris clarified that the incident did not happen in a restricted area as previously reported.
"The couple was caught in a remote area, thus arousing the suspicion of the border patrol," he said.
He advised civillians to steer clear of remote areas. - By NAJMUDDIN NAJIB.

What the heck?
Was there some law passed allowing DBKL officers and the Army to assume the duties of the JAIS people? I mean, it's not enough that we empower these songkok-wearing, holier-than-thou, self-proclaimed 'Sentinels of Saintliness" to snoop around for 'morality-transgressors' - now we're allowing DBKL officers and the Army to do the same? Don't they have their own job to do? Are the Alam Flora people next then?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an advocate of public lewdness and lechery and stuff. You won't catch me smooching in the corner of KLCC's fountain or things like that. MY concern is that morality standards seem to be at an all-time high. At least in the view of those in charge of enforcing them - these 'Sentinels of Saintliness"(who act like they've reserved their own exclusive seats in Heaven)

Fine, I understand the need to restrain people from engaging in oral sex in the back of TGV, or fondling each other on the bus, or even passionate-kissing on the LRT. But like everything else, there needs to be limits.

Now it seems that EVERYONE has the prerogative to impose their own 'standards of saintliness' on others. For heavens sakes, people have been hauled in for holding hands! Is THIS a lewd or sexual act? Because if it is, I've been guilty since kindergarten.

It's also fascinating to see how such 'standards of saintliness' are enforced. Look at the Malay Mail article. Granted, the soldiers were justified to be suspicious to see a car parked at a remote area. Yes, they were doing their duty to find out if the car carried scheming smugglers, rebels or gun-toting terrorists. But once they peered in and saw a butt-naked couple, I'd think that their suspicions would be gone.

I mean, OBVIOUSLY those two were not armed and OBVIOUSLY they were not engaging in activities which would jeopardize national security. As conceded by the Superintendent, the couple weren't even in a restricted area! And OBVIOUSLY they drove off because they were in a vulnerable situation [in a remote jungle, surrounded by soldiers bearing weapons and buck naked - how much more vulnerable can you get??]

So WHY did our soldiers FIRE SHOTS at them?? What logical reason could there be? Are they even allowed to shoot at un-armed civilians? And then they complain that they didn't get the registration number of the car. If you weren't busy shooting at the car, you'd have gotten it.If you had your eyes on the car instead of the naked couple IN the car, you'd have noticed the number, SIR. And what would be your explanation if your shots hit and killed one of the passengers? Is it now justifiable to kill these 'morality-transgressors'?

This is a plain example of things taken to extremities.

Trust me, if we tolerate these people in their crusade on imposing their own arbitrary 'standards of saintliness' - We've got an unpleasant future ahead.