Malaysians Warned on Gay Symptoms in Children

[Guest fountainhall]

How much longer will gay men and women spend their vacation time in a country which is increasingly harrassing the LGBT community? The Malaysian government's latest move has kicked up a storm on the internet, with human rights and sexuality activists expressing shock and disgust.

 

It has now turned up the anti-gay notch a little further by issuing a parenting guide that helps parents “identify” symptoms of homosexuality. “Once the children have these symptoms, immediate attention should be given,” warns the Guide.

 

And the “symptoms”?

 

For gays:

* Muscular body and a fondness for showing off the body by wearing clothing, such as by wearing V-necks and sleeveless tops

* A preference for tight and bright coloured clothes

* An inclination to be attracted to men

* A tendency to carry big handbags, similar to the kinds used by women

 

For lesbians:

* Showing attraction to women

* Distancing themselves from women other than their girlfriends

* A preference for hanging out, sleeping and dining with women

* Absence of feelings for men

 

Naturally, the gay community is up in arms at this latest campaign. Activist Pang Khee Teik initially said he didn’t even know how to respond, before –

 

. . . flaying the Education Ministry for being “only interested in teaching hate, promoting inequality and playing politics”.

 

“The Ministry of Education is now officially a bully,” he said. “I never presumed to be in the position to teach the meaning of education to the people running the Ministry of Education. But it has come to that.”

http://www.freemalay...w-to-spot-gays/

[TotallyOz]

What a bunch of fucking morons. Are they related to the Tea Party in the USA?

[TotallyOz]

It has been a while since my last visit to this country. I have been 2 times on Visa Runs and while I enjoyed my stay, there was not much gay life at all. I do remember that the cab driver I had did not want to take me to a gay massage place I had requested and it was one of the few times I had ever felt uncomfortable in a situation like that.

 

It is sad that people are so backward and it seems to be progressing in the USA among part of the population and regressing with the other part. For the life of me, I just can't understand why anyone would be so bothered by someone elses sexual preference.

[Guest fountainhall]

Malaysia is of course a multi-ethnic, although predominantly Muslim, society with laws that actively promote the business interests of the Muslim community. So I suppose there will therefore always be religious crazies who jump on the anti-gay bandwagon.

 

What I fail to understand, though, is that Malaysian society used to be so tolerant of other faiths, lifestyles etc. I remember taking a Chinese bf on a trip to KL, Malacca and Johore way back in 1981 when we were always met with smiles. Other times over the years I have met guys in Blue Boys, other clubs or the internet and spent a few days/nights together with them and getting no frowns or comments from the hotels. Even just walking around the city, especially in the Bukhit Bintang and Jalan Sultan Ismail area and in many of the shopping malls, I have always seen lots of gay guys.

 

But in visits over the last 6 years or so, I have noticed a huge increase in tourists from Middle Eastern countries, many of the women wearing both the black abaya or the full burqa. Locally, from the number of crackdowns in recent years, it seems the Islamic purists are either taking - or seeking to take - a firmer ideological, and what they believe to be a more moral, grip.

 

And this seems odd when you compare Malaysia with Indonesia, the world's largest Islamic nation. In Malaysia, it is against the law to practise homosexuality and the punishment varies from a fine to 20 years in jail. In Indonesia (with the exception of the province of Aceh), it is NOT a crime and therefore there is no punishment !

[TotallyOz]

FH, very interesting.

 

I do have a question for you as you are very well traveled. I have seen that in the USA, people who are "religious" and "churchgoers" have gone down in the past few years and IMHO, I think it is a huge drop.

 

Is this the case with Islam? It is growing or declining? Do you think those that migrate to other countries will have an impact on the social norms in that country? What about Thailand?

 

I have seen so many more Arabs in Thailand the past few years and I do wonder what impact it will have on LOS.

 

I have a good friend who is a physicist and an atheist. He seems to believe that advances in recent years will continue in the next 20 years and that there will be no doubt to anyone of intelligence that the Biblical creation is a hoax. I don't think this is the case as I don't think that no matter how much evidence you know a "true believer" that they will ever change their mind on anything so sacred.

[Guest fountainhall]

Whew! That’s a tough one, Michael. And a debate on "Whither Christianity?" could be very interesting!

 

Re Islam, without much specific knowledge on the subject, my gut feel has always been that Islam is not declining. Indeed, I seem to recall reading not so long ago that it is the fastest growing religion in the world. One reason for that, I believe, is because Islam is more than just a religion for most adherents: it is a way of life. It plays a far more central role in day-to-day life than do other religions (apart from a few sects). Many Christians practice the inherent values of their faith on a daily basis. But for many others, it is a once- a-week visit to church - if that. Observant Muslims make up a much larger percentage of the total Islamic population, and for them their faith dictates much of everyday life.

 

Having just looked up a Pew Research Center Paper on “The Future of the Global Muslim Population”, it seems I may be correct. This indicates that the global Muslim population grew at an average annual rate of 2.2% between 1990 and 2000, The projected increase from 2010 to 2030 is less at 1.5%. But that second figure still equates to an additional 600 million people!

 

Within the USA, the Paper projects a more than doubling of the Muslim population by 2030 – from 2.6 million to 6.2 million. However, that is in large part accounted for by Immigration. The Middle East and Africa will continue to have the highest percentage of Muslim-majority countries. But in Asia-Pacific, whereas 21.6% of the population was Muslim in 1990, the projection for 2030 is 27.3%. How that might affect Thailand, I regret I have no idea, other than I cannot see Islam making much inroad into what is a deeply Buddhist population - apart from in the main Muslim areas of the south.

 

http://pewresearch.o...ide-fast-growth

 

What I find most interesting, and yet at the same time most sad, about Islam is that it was originally a religion about beauty, joy, tolerance, helping others less fortunate, etc. Of course, there was also a fair bit of blood spilled as the religion expanded geographically and from inter-faith feuding – but then, over the centuries the Christian Church has been responsible for far greater pillage, massacre and bloodshed (if only because the Muslims made it far easier to surrender by offering very advantageous terms, including freedom of religion - something the Christians would rarely tolerate).

 

When you look at Spain during its centuries of Islamic rule, Jews and Christians lived alongside the Muslims more or less in harmony and more or less to the benefit of each other, massive advances were made in medicine, in education (having imported the craft of paper-making from China, the Muslims started the tradition of public libraries), in astronomy, in poetry, architecture and the other arts. I find early Islamic art some of the most extraordinarily beautiful of any art anywhere.

 

Yet, somewhere along the line, a small group of radicals has emerged and gained some sway. The Islam they preach is more vengeful and in no way tolerant if you disagree with their views. Some argue that this is the welling-up of centuries of anger against anti-Muslim sentiment that sees its origins in the Crusades. We’ve had a long thread on the Crusades on this Board and there’s no need to go into it again - other, perhaps, than to re-stress the view that the violence and bloodshed perpetrated on the Muslims (and for that matter the Jews) by the so-called righteous Christians was horrific.

[TotallyOz]

I have friends from Jordan who are Muslim and they are the coolest people are earth. I love them a great deal and have spent much of the last year with them. They are also very "westernized" and all were schooled in the USA. They still live in Jordan most of the year but they have businesses there and in USA. I sat down with one for lunch a few weeks back and got a very long detailed view of when her father who is really Palestine native and lived at peace with the Jews and the day he lost it all including half his family when they were forced from their home. To this day, he hates Israel and will never forget seeing his family shot in front of him. They went to Jordan and have lived there since.

 

I admit that I don't understand a lot about the history of the Middle East or Islam. I do know that not all people who practice the religion are nuts and I can say the same about Christians and Jews. But, there seem to be a fringe of each religion that is intent on war and hatred. I just wonder what the point of all of it is? I am a bit surprised in the USA how many people show up at Chick Fil A to support a business that openly hates homosexuals and they are all Christians! Hate and Intolerance are in most of these religions. As young people grow up and a new generation starts to grow, I expect all religions to decline. Interesting that is not happening with Islam.

[Guest fountainhall]

I don't think any religion is free of nut cases and zealots. I know precious little about Judaism, but it is one of the 3 monotheistic faiths, and I find it interesting that all share some of the same beliefs of the others.

 

We know that Christianity was essentially a unifying force against the Roman occupation. It was also an attempt to preach a doctrine more based on love and forgiveness than anger and hatred. We know that the Prophet Mohammed believed the tribes of the Arab lands had to break away from their internecine rivalries and constant feuding, all of which were resulting in a breakdown not only of law and order but also of morality.

 

I also find it interesting that during the first decades and more of these two faiths, all seemed to go as Christ and Mohammed had hoped. The problems started either when, as in the case of Christianity, matters of interpretation of doctrine were questioned and alternative views put forward; or, as in the case of Islam, when questions about the true successor of the Prophet were disputed. In Islam, the most obvious result was the major split between Sunni and Shia.

 

With Christianity, it was ironically a Roman Emperor, Constantine, a convert to the Christian faith, who assembled the Council of Nicea in AD 325 to determine what Christians should believe. This was to become the Orthodox Christian Church. Centuries later, the Pope and his cohorts in the west revitalised the rival Catholic faith. Even later, thanks to Martin Luther and his ‘revolution’ against the corruption and ills of the Catholic Church (especially the sale of indulgences to rid you of sin), a further split ansued with the establishment of Protestantism.

 

And history knows only too well, the bloodshed which has been spilled and the hatred and loathing between all three branches of the so-called Christian Church has accounted for many centuries of horrific bloodshed.

 

Fascinating throughout the saga of competing faiths and struggles, is the city of Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul. For the conflicts played out between Orthodox Christian, Catholic Christian and Muslim were mostly played out in and around that city.