Fridae

Nothing like a bit of gay bashing when the police are feeling useless and they have crime in KL under control .. And note, they were so keen to entrap those gay desperadoes that they staked the club out for a whole week prior to the raid

Also note the subjective comments made by these oh-so-professional police..."dancing in an erotic manner" and ( the pills)"were strewn all over the floor"

KL, um that's the capital city of Malaysia right? Oh yes, that's the country whose courts have just sentenced a 25 year old Singapore Malay woman to six strokes of the ratan for drinking beer under shariah law. The same country that, at the conclusion of a political show-trial, sentenced Anwar Ibrahim to 7 years for having consensual sex (and they're trying to do it again). The same country that denies individuals the basic human right of apostasy. Oh well I guess the events of Saturday night shouldn't come as any surprise.

Malaysia is bleeding by a thousand cuts. Its going backwards economically, socially and culturally at a million miles an hour. Corruption at all levels of government is one of the major causes. Yet the police would rather stake out gay venues because about 6% of the patrons are using party drugs. One of the other causes is lack of money. Yet the Malaysian Government will happily waste hundreds of thousands of dollars persecuting and prosecuting people for being gay.

What a tragedy for Malaysia and Malaysians

p.s. it was tempting to include a remark or two about the Prime Minister but I don't want to get Fridae in trouble

GLBTourists: BOYCOTT this country! And tell all your straight friends to do the same. Only ECONOMICS and BAD PRESS around the world will change this situation.

The real tragedy here is methamphetamine. I don't know about the politics of raiding gay bars, but the truth be told, meth is a dangerous substance that destroys people. Here in the USA, the Destroyer Drug Meth has caused formerly decent people to commit murder and other violent behavior, child abuse, and their ultimate self-destruction by the Destroyer Drug Meth.

Ever see an addict of the Destroyer Drug Meth? Not very attractive. They lose their teeth and develop sores on their skin that they pick at, turning a formerly physically attractive person into a ghoul, a living dead person.You cook your organs in your own body using meth, in addition to losing your teeth. It only takes a few months. One of the most telling images is in Frontline, a show shown on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in the USA. Click on this link and ask yourself if you would like to kiss that mouth.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/body/

Gorgeous yesterday, scary today, courtesy of the Destroyer Drug Meth:
http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/DrugIssue/MethResources/faces/index.html


And some others:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=meth+effects&aq=5&oq=meth+&aqi=g10
http://www.mappsd.org/How%20Meth%20Affects.htm
http://www.anti-meth.org/files/tuscan_citizen.htm

Labs to make the Destroyer Drug Meth have been setup in trailer parks, rent houses, and cheap motels, putting mainly poverty stricken people at risk for fire and explosion of the volatile ingredients. I have personally been near places where meth labs blew up, causing loss of innocent life and limb, terrible burns, and horrible death. Imagine this in a high rise apartment house in Mid Valley or Petaling Jaya. And national security? Come on people, everyone knows Al Quaeda traffics drugs to supply their campaign of terror. And they are NOT gay friendly at all.

Malaysia is not the only country bleeding by a thousand cuts, going pedal-to-the-metal in reverse, economically, socially and culturally. Any country, that has to deal with this motherload of social sickness, bleeds. It's no wonder the police anywhere go ape shit when they find a lab, or someone in possession. Somewhere priorities need to be set, and the raiding of a gay bar for "party drugs" may be such a priority.

Re No.3: *rolls eyes*Yes....let all foreigners boycott a country where the police let the foreigners off yet allows the locals to be prosecuted....sigh...

In the local New Straits Times, it was mentioned that the police would recommend to KL City Hall that the restaurant/club/lounge be closed down. I hope DBKL does not take this recommendation seriously.

Re No. 2: And the model is not 'Singaporean'. She's a local from the state of Perak. Her caning sentence is now under scrutiny by women MPs in Malaysia from both sides of the political divide.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/33088-outrage-over-caning-for-model

yeah, i agree with aput... the whole boycotting gay tourism just because of raids about DRUGS is ridiculous. look, many people think the worst about Malaysia, and yes, there are crap things that are going on, but it's not the worst country in the world. and testing for drugs isn't a problem... yeah, sure they commented about the patrons being gay (glad i wasn't there that night) but drugs are not something to support.

Also, someone i know who is from NYC said that the police told the foreigners they could leave anytime they wanted. some chose to stay just for moral support for the locals. this sort of testing has happened in straight venues as well and my straight friends have also been caught, so it's not specifically just for gay clubs. just remember that there are heinous gay crimes that happen in the United States and other more developed countries all the time.

I sure do hope that DBKL doesn't shut down Marketplace... it would be one less place to go to on the weekend for the LGBT community here...

Drugs are a huge problem around the world, ESPECIALLY within the LGBT community, we all know that. So let's not confuse everything, shall we ?
The police in KL are probably homophobic, so what else is new ? I bet they're not more homophobic than any other police anywhere else in the world.
But if gay guys gather together and stuff themselves with drugs that are not only illegal but also highly destructive, then I won't cry "homophobia!!!", sorry.

Great Readers comments - this is an anti-drugs story, not an anti-gay story .

Thanks for your support Bolli. I'd like to add that if there is ONE thing I find shocking in this event, it's the fact that only locals were tested and not foreigners. Now THAT is unacceptable.

If the allegations turn out to be true, the bar/club has to take responsibility for allowing the reckless few to do this on their premises. Pretty dumb all around.

Post 8 "Drugs are a huge problem around the world, ESPECIALLY within the LGBT community, we all know that."

Do we? I agree drugs are a large problem around the world, but "especially within the LGBT community"? Do we really know that? I don't actually know anyone on drugs.

But isn't it to do with the clubbing scene, gay or straight?

Well, now you know Steve.
You don't know anyone on drugs ? Wow... looks like you don't live in the world I live in, or maybe you don't like the idea that gays tend to take more drugs, but as it happens they do, and for all kinds of reasons. Clubbing is one of them.
Gays go clubbing a lot more often than straight people and these surroundings encourage people into taking all kinds of drugs.
Or could this be a misunderstanding around the word "drugs" ? Ecstasy, GHB, poppers, cocaine, yaba... if you don't consider these to be drugs, then I too don't know anyone on drugs, lol.

(Re Post 13)

Yes I do consider those that I've heard of to be drugs (I've never heard of yaba or GHB), and taking them pretty dumb, and no, I don't know anyone who does, so far as I know. But I don't go clubbing. I hung up my dancing clogs a while ago. I dance like somebody's Dad anyway.

Though I don't go clubbing I would still guess that the number of straight people that go clubbing in London vastly outnumbers the gay ones. I suspect that's even more true somewhere like KL where many gay people would be uncomfortable being seen publicly at a gay venue.

So I just question, in the absence of any evidence to support your statement, whether what you say is true, or is it another one of those myths. Or maybe it is more true in certain parts of the world?

If it is true, then an article on Fridae on the causes and effects might be useful.

OK...
I didn't mean that the NUMBER of gays taking drugs is higher than the NUMBER of straights taking drugs. I would never say something like that because I'm not dumb and I know that the proportion of gays is only between 6 and 10% of the population.
What I meant was that the PROPORTION, or the ratio if you prefer, is higher.
And questioning that is about as relevant as questioning the Britishness of your Queen E.

She's German.

OK, not any more.

Queen E is British.....?

To the topic at hand, I personally believe that drugs wouldn't be an issue if the Malaysian tax on alcohol and cigarettes weren't in the triple digits.

(post 15)
Well, if, as you agree, numerically, many many more straight people go clubbing than gay people, and are exposed to these drugs and take them, then, for society as a whole, the bigger problem is among straight people and at straight venues.

But if there is evidence that the proportion is higher among gay people then let's see it, examine the causes and consequences and look at what could be done. You can't just assume it's true because you happen to know a certain number of people who do yourself.

You do enjoy splitting hairs, don't you Steve ?
Are you a lawyer of some kind ? Or teacher maybe ?
Who says I "assume" ? You don't know my sources, do you ? So ... you just assume that I assume :-))
End of argument as far as i'm concerned, hair splitting is not my cup of tea, and all the best to you.

So what are your sources? That's precisely what I'm asking.

Yawn...as usual, Queen E is obviously having her monthly monthly. Get on wit et blind me. zzz.

#8- yveserwan-good point. Empirically a hush hush common fact that most gay druggies prefer not to admit. Denial is their best drug to keep spiraling downwards. Sad.

you'll have to split the hairs by yourself, Steve. I said end of argument and I meant it :-)

This isn't splitting hairs Yveserwan, you've made a pretty sweeping statement but seem reluctant to back it up, using insults by way of response.

I'm not saying I disbelieve you, I'd just like to know where this information can be found. All I've been able to find through google is references to some increases in HIV can be linked to drug use and consequent risky behaviour through this new and dangerous drug meth, and reports showing an actual DEcrease in drug use in the gay population during the nineties, which is probably out of date.

I agree with you and jammyboi on many things and it's kind of sad that you both resort to playground language, when this is clearly an important issue that should perhaps be discussed more.

PS - since the above post I read the next article, Breaking this chain of silence (Part 4) by SL Yang which also goes into the meth/risky sex thing and how it needs to be talked about.

Insults ??? are you out of your mind Steve ? read my posts again (if you read them in the first place), I don't see a single insult. Unless you consider calling you a lawyer or teacher an insult, lol !

And "playground" language ? that's downright hilarious! give me a break, you're the one who's behaving like a schoolboy!

You are not to tell anyone here how things "need to be talked about" and I don't have to give you all kinds of private information just because you pompously demand it. You do have the typical arrogance of a teacher, you know, and that's probably why you don't like to be contradicted or not obeyed.

This comment board belongs to everyone here, not to you. You're not the moderator or the one who decides how it works.

I live in Kuala Lumpur. That Sunday a friend described to us how the police raided the Marketplace. Several days later, the news appeared in major newspapers including the Chinese Sin Chew Daily on page 24. Granted, drug raids are routine operations of the police. But the headlines threw more bad light on the already stigmatized image of the gay community. The police also badly needed a boost to their reputation, so they chose to strike when the crowd was the thickest. Thankfully, it wasn't so much gay bashing as drug cleaning. And guys and gals must learn to stay drug free no matter how tempting it is. It's true that Malaysia has all these draconian laws against LGBTs, but the gay community is still relatively safe and free to live their own lives. Gay businesses are still flourishing across the country albeit discreet, thanks in part to widespread corruption in the police force. A word of caution: Know the law and stay out of trouble.

Re: Comment #28

As a person that was there that night at Marketplace, I beg to differ. First of all, while the police were kind enough to point me to a leather sofa to sit down, I did highlight to one officer to make the announcements in English. This went unheeded and some officers started yelling at the crowd for 'not listening', when it was clearly more a matter of people not understanding what the heck they were yelling to begin with.

Secondly, the female officers were being damned cynical and giggly about the fact that the club was full of guys.

Thirdly, as highlighted in the News Straits Times, the police actually mentioned suggesting the closure of Marketplace. On what grounds? The urine tests proves that there are drugs in one's system. It does not prove that they took it in the club, considering that NO PILLS were found "strewn on the floor" within the club itself.

This shows that either the papers are putting words into the policemen's mouths (most likely) or that the police are themselves making stories up to boast a "successful raid".

What is interesting to me is that everyone readily accepts the fact that the police can come into an establishment and demand urine tests. They do this in Thailand but then I don't really consider that government much of a Constitutional state anyway. Malaysia always seemed to me to be a state of laws. Is it permissible in Malaysia for the police to stop a person on the street and demand a urine test from someone who is doing no wrong but simply going about their business? If that is the case then I can understand them doing that in a club. However, if that is not the case then it should not be permissible in a club. In most western countries police must have some probable cause for assuming you have violated the law. God forbid police here in the USA get the idea they can demand urine tests because one is in a club having fun.

I dun know yveservan but I can surmise from his manner that he's a gentleman trying to cool issues with u, steveuk, by simply not beating a dead horse to death. Anyone is free to agree or disagree based on merit so let's not patronize me...bores me as usual. Doesn't impress me a wee bit if one is Elvis, the prime minister, a retired lawyer or watever; a good point made by a vagrant is just as credible. I dun normally make issues with anyone here unless it really irks me. I call a spade a spade.

Moving along, not everything is written in google stone. Tat's why there's such a term called empirical.

Anyways, the dead horse is due for rebirth, so please leave it be hereon ya?. Lighten up, it's anti-aging. Peace. ;)

PS: If u still need to have the last word in, feel free. Not going there- I'm afraid of the dark. :P