We had to go into hiding, says nudist
BY ROYCE TAN AND M. SIVANANTHA SHARMA
Covered up: Two female nude games participants being escorted out of the magistrate’s court in George Town after they were remanded. — Bernama
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GEORGE TOWN: The organiser of the so-called “Penang Nude Sports Games 2014” which raised a nationwide storm recently, claimed the participants were living in fear after a five-minute video of the activity at Teluk Kampi surfaced on the Net.
The 46-year-old Malaysian, a permanent resident in Singapore, and the videographer of the event, said with the police hot on their heels, they lived in fear everyday “like criminals”.
“The immense pressure led to sleepless nights. We were filled with sadness and fear and we avoided everyone.
“We have to thank one of our friends for making the first move to surrender.
“Without him doing it, I don’t think any of us would dared surrender,” he said, adding they had a talk before deciding to surrender together.
The 46-year-old organiser had earlier sent an e-mail to a vernacular daily to tender their apologies to the Penang state government.
The mail read: “We are sorry to have held a naturist event in Penang, which created a storm in the whole Malaysia. We won’t do it again and please accept our deepest apologies for our misconduct at Teluk Kampi, which created embarrassment for the country.
“We have much esteem for the law in Malaysia.”
The organiser also sent emails to 13 participants of the nude games to offer his apologies.
He claimed that his Vimeo account, the video-sharing website from where the video was uploaded, was hacked and shared widely without his knowledge, causing unnecessary attention and trouble.
He threatened to take legal action against those uploading the “Penang Nude Sports Games 2014” video on other video-sharing websites for copyright infringement.
In Butterworth, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the organiser must also apologise to the Penang National Park as the event took place there.
“Even though they had apologised, they have to face the music as this sort of behaviour is not acceptable in Malaysia,” Lim said after opening the World Breastfeeding Week 2014 at the Taman Lucky community centre yesterday.
