GEORGE TOWN, Aug 6 — The recent nude sports event at the Penang National Park that sparked a nationwide uproar and was front-paged on dailies today was not the country’s first, state Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said.
The Penang lawmaker voiced his horror at the negative publicity after a video of the event spread online, more so after hearing that a park ranger had helped the nudists build a campfire, but questioned the attention given the case.
“This is not the first time there were nude festival or events were held in this country as we have several other cases in other states that was reported online but it was not highlighted or put on the front page,” he told reporters here.
Lim brandished several pages of printed online news to point out that there have been other nudity events in Perak, Johor and Terengganu.
The incidents he referred to were the shooting of a nude scene for a reality show “Naked and Afraid” in Perak in June this year, another reality show known as Robinson Ekspeditionen in Johor in 2009 and also news of nude couples caught in sexual trysts at the beaches in Kuala Terengganu in 2010.
“I wonder why such other events in other states didn’t get such widespread publicity.
“There seem to be an interest in anything that happens in Penang. If other states, there is no interest but if it’s in Penang, there is so much interest till it makes the front page,” he said.
A five-minute video clip of a nude sports game event, which showed a group of people participating in outdoor activities on a beach here in the nude, was uploaded online two months ago and quickly became viral recently, creating an uproar and this was widely reported in newspapers today.
Lim expressed his shock after hearing that a national park ranger had allegedly allowed the group to hold the event, dubbed as the “Penang Nude Sports Game”, at the secluded beach of Teluk Kampi in the national park in Teluk Bahang.
“We are shocked that the event was getting assistance from the park ranger. I didn’t watch the video (of the event) but it was understood that there was someone in the background believed to be the ranger,” he said in a press conference at his office today.
He acknowledged the social media buzz over the event, with one of the nudist participants claiming the ranger had helped them start a campfire at night.
“He helped them start a fire, poured kerosene for them to start the fire, so we are shocked that the ranger is helping them,” Lim said.
He added that the state is waiting for the national park management and the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to investigate the allegations.
Earlier today, Teluk Bahang state assemblyman Datuk Shah Headan Ayoob Hussain Shah claimed that the person keeping watch at the site during the May 31 event was a watchman, not a ranger.
He alleged that the watchman had advised the nudists against stripping buck-naked but added that they had ignored him.
He also alluded that the watchman might have been threatened against reporting the nudists’ event which was why he had not reported it to the park management nor the police.
Shah Headan also said the park management is conducting an internal inquiry into the whole incident to find out what had transpired.
The national park had also submitted a report on the issue to the state executive councillor.
Lim confirmed receiving the report that had stated that the park management had reported the video clip to the Malaysian Multimedia and Communications Commission to take it done and to assist in investigations into the case. -- Yahoo! News Malaysia
The Penang lawmaker voiced his horror at the negative publicity after a video of the event spread online, more so after hearing that a park ranger had helped the nudists build a campfire, but questioned the attention given the case.
“This is not the first time there were nude festival or events were held in this country as we have several other cases in other states that was reported online but it was not highlighted or put on the front page,” he told reporters here.
Lim brandished several pages of printed online news to point out that there have been other nudity events in Perak, Johor and Terengganu.
The incidents he referred to were the shooting of a nude scene for a reality show “Naked and Afraid” in Perak in June this year, another reality show known as Robinson Ekspeditionen in Johor in 2009 and also news of nude couples caught in sexual trysts at the beaches in Kuala Terengganu in 2010.
“I wonder why such other events in other states didn’t get such widespread publicity.
“There seem to be an interest in anything that happens in Penang. If other states, there is no interest but if it’s in Penang, there is so much interest till it makes the front page,” he said.
A five-minute video clip of a nude sports game event, which showed a group of people participating in outdoor activities on a beach here in the nude, was uploaded online two months ago and quickly became viral recently, creating an uproar and this was widely reported in newspapers today.
Lim expressed his shock after hearing that a national park ranger had allegedly allowed the group to hold the event, dubbed as the “Penang Nude Sports Game”, at the secluded beach of Teluk Kampi in the national park in Teluk Bahang.
“We are shocked that the event was getting assistance from the park ranger. I didn’t watch the video (of the event) but it was understood that there was someone in the background believed to be the ranger,” he said in a press conference at his office today.
He acknowledged the social media buzz over the event, with one of the nudist participants claiming the ranger had helped them start a campfire at night.
“He helped them start a fire, poured kerosene for them to start the fire, so we are shocked that the ranger is helping them,” Lim said.
He added that the state is waiting for the national park management and the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to investigate the allegations.
Earlier today, Teluk Bahang state assemblyman Datuk Shah Headan Ayoob Hussain Shah claimed that the person keeping watch at the site during the May 31 event was a watchman, not a ranger.
He alleged that the watchman had advised the nudists against stripping buck-naked but added that they had ignored him.
He also alluded that the watchman might have been threatened against reporting the nudists’ event which was why he had not reported it to the park management nor the police.
Shah Headan also said the park management is conducting an internal inquiry into the whole incident to find out what had transpired.
The national park had also submitted a report on the issue to the state executive councillor.
Lim confirmed receiving the report that had stated that the park management had reported the video clip to the Malaysian Multimedia and Communications Commission to take it done and to assist in investigations into the case. -- Yahoo! News Malaysia
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