Albert Yam Kam Hoong (left) and a suspect of the ‘Penang Nude Sports Game’ arrive at the Balik Pulau Magistrate’s Court to face the charges, August 28, 2014. — Picture by K.E. OoiKUALA LUMPUR, MARCH 23 — Albert Yam Kam Hoong, organiser of the so-called “Nude Sports Games” in Penang that cause an uproar last year, said he does not regret being a nudist, but rather surrendering to the Malaysian authorities.
In an interview with Singapore news portal AsiaOne yesterday, the 47-year-old also said he rued the decision to hold the event in Malaysia.
“I have no regrets being a nudist. There’s nothing wrong with it.
“Only thing I regret is going to Malaysia to do it. In Thailand or Indonesia, we would have no problems at all,” he was quoted as saying in the interview.
Yam said he had mistakenly turned himself in to Malaysian authorities investigating the controversy, thinking it would be treated as a minor offence.
Instead, Yam was sentenced to a total of seven months’ jail. He was released from Penang state prison on December 26 last year.
A Singapore permanent resident, Yam has since returned to republic where he continues to lead SgNudClub, a Yahoo online group for local nudists.
“I didn’t expect so much jail time,” he told AsiaOne.
“I suffered a lot in there.”
“It was horrible,” he said of prison.
“They put the sick inmates with the healthy ones, and there were also cases of scurvy.”
He said his incarceration made him lose weight and harmed his health, such that he is no longer fit enough to run marathons, something he often used to do.
Touching on the video that triggered the furore, Yam said he had uploaded other videos before, and so was surprised when the particular clip went viral last August and caused such outrage, finally landing him and his friends in trouble.
The video, filmed by Yam, showed his nudist friends at Penang National Park painting each other’s bodies, dancing, and rolling over one another.
Yam told AsiaOne that the video was meant to promote another nudist event last December and was for the members’ private viewing.
“Malaysians and Singaporeans have conservative views on nudism and cannot accept it yet,” he said.
“They think it is immoral, but I believe there is nothing wrong with embracing our natural self.”
“Maybe I’ll start doing it again only when nudism is more accepted here,” he said.
All six Malaysians who participated in the Nude Games — Yam, Loh Kok Hong, Mu Wei Peng, Justin Ang Ji Keng, Lionel Loo Joo Heng and R.Nanda Kumar – were sentenced to a month’s jail and fined RM5,000 each in default of three months jail last August by Magistrate Mohd Najib Ismail.
They were convicted of committing obscene acts under Section 294 (a) of Penal Code in public.
Yam was also sentenced to another six months’ jail under Section 292 for distribution and possession of pornographic material.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/remorseless-penang-nude-games-organiser-says-only-regrets-surrendering#sthash.OVkqbMFA.dpuf
