Malaysia’s Not-so-Hidden Illegal Sex Industry: an Immoral “Crack” in the Islamic State?

Living in Malaysia, a purported Islamic state where Islam is clearly defined as the state religion within its constitution, one is often left to wonder just what really an “Islamic state” really means in the Malaysian context.  From the alcohol sold everywhere to the ever-so-subliminally sexual K-pop being blasted everywhere, to the clear Westernization in all aspects of life from fashion to food, the country simply has very little in common with the imagination of non-Muslims when it comes to the words “Islamic society.”

Yet, foreigners and even some locals can simply justify that Malaysia has all those “non-Islamic” idiosyncrasies and peculiarities because she needs to cater to the material and emotional needs of the Chinese and Indian populations, who certainly would not enjoy living in a society that resemble Saudi Arabia in its social conducts.  But, they would say, Malays, being good, devout Muslims, would not participate in those immoral indulgences so vulgarly enjoyed by the non-Muslims.

If such perception is indeed true, then the very extremity of immorality, the illegal but tolerated sex industry in the country, should be a rather minor phenomenon that exists in insignificant amounts due to the limitation of the market size confined to the occasional patronage of socially liberal Chinese, Indians, and some foreign males.  However, the reality seems very much different…the sheer boldness and impunity these sex workers operate in broad daylight is cannot possibly happen without serious social consent.

Walking down any major street in the city, it is not difficult to find little black-and-white posters pasted on street lights and telephone poles advertising “full-body massages,” accompanied by pictures of skimpily dressed Chinese girls.  More shockingly, when a male walks by himself through the sparsely populated upper floors of minor shopping malls in any residential neighborhoods, he is bound to be stopped by Chinese girls in rather exhibitionist “uniforms” inquiring if services are needed.

Rows and rows of massage parlors, beauty shops, and dubious hair salons line these dark upper floors of, mind you, MAJOR residential shopping malls where lower floors are lined with likes of Carrefour and KFC.  Even in China, where prostitution is also illegal and similarly disguised as normal businesses, the aggressiveness of the people involved in the business cannot be compared to the ones found here in KL.  And these public places are, of course, frequented just as likely be good Muslims as they are by lusty Chinese and Indians…

One is now forced to question just how “good” these good Muslim Malays are, and, unfortunately, overhearing just one conversation from some Malay coworkers is enough to debunk the perception of Islamic morality in a country supposedly going through a fundamentalist revival.  One of the young men in his early twenties had his eyes lit up with pride on discussing his pursuits last weekend embodied, supposedly, in a “very good” 23-year-old Chinese girl whose service only cost 50 Ringgits.

He and the other Malay coworkers elaborated the story over a quick lunch on another day.  It seems that for a Malay boy to lust after a Chinese girl in this country is not particularly a rare thing, it is just that, according to them, for a Malay to get a Chinese girl (as a girlfriend) is incredibly difficult, and it seems that difficulty is making these Chinese girls even more valued and desirable.  So, the previously discussed lack of ethnic mixing in the country is not exclusively due to lack of desire to do so due to differences in culture and religion, but lack of ABILITY to do so?

…Alright then, a youthful population of Malay males lusting after Chinese girls that they cannot get would mean that prostitution here (which is almost exclusively staffed by Chinese girls, probably for cultural reasons just as economic ones) DOES indeed have quite a large market.  How would Allah, and their more conservative Muslim brethrens in the Middle East, and beyond, think of these Malays publicly practicing in sensuous acts in un-Islamic ways with obviously un-Islamic partners?