MORE PICS–13 CHINA “DOLLS” Detained For Involvement in PROSTITUTION in PENANG + 1 LOCAL MAN; CHIANG MAI: Can Do Bar–Owned By Sex Workers Experiment

UPDATE: Dec 07 06
ABOVE: Malaysiakini Headlines

Discrimination Against Chinese Nationsls

China Press reported that a businesswoman from Shanghai was irked on being asked to leave a karaoke outlet in Kuala Lumpur because she was a Chinese national. He Bin, 39, said Chinese nationals should not be treated this way, especially with Visit Malaysia Year 2007 around the corner. The same daily also reported that several entertainment outlets in Kepong had put up signs barring women from a particular country from entering the premises. It quoted Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Donald Lim as urging the owners of retail and entertainment outlets not to put up signboards with insensitive messages that could hurt the feelings of foreign visitors.

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for KEDAH MB Tall Story on the RAID of the AMERICAN Couple in Langkawi in Oct as Widely Reported. (see bottom)

Visit Malaysia Year – 2007 is just around the corner and the raid was a token action to have a “good image” for Malaysia. But then again we must NOT over do it, without proper night entertainment, would the tourists drop by? And up north in Chiang Mai, Thailand; they are lapping it up with in the introduction of “CAN DO BAR” – run by the Sex workers themselves - where everything also can do for a fee.
And down under in Singapore, they just have their 9 millionth. And how many came to Malayusia? The success is big business for them.

= = = = = = = =Govt Agrees On Heavier Penalty For Those Involved In Prostitution; December 04, 2006 14:48 PM KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- The government agrees that people involved in prostitution must face stiffer penalties,

Deputy Minister: Talk only- studied first; otherwise no tourist will come!

Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum said Monday. However, any proposal to amend the law to impose a heavier sentence on them must be studied first because efforts to curb the scourge involved several ministries, he said.

ABOVE & BELOW: A helping "hands-free" from the enforcement officer , just in case a mis-step coming down & raiders do enjoy the show (laughing, below)

"In most cases, prostitution is run behind a veil. There are tourists who come here using their travel visas but then get involved in prostitution.

ABOVE & BELOW: Being led away to the Penang Police Headquarters for recording of particulars & further investigations.
Nothing to be ashamed of girls. Being yourself automatically fulfills any responsibility. The gods created the Universe out of joy and playfulness and creativity, not because they thought they had to. Your being is blessed and spontaneous because it is. Fully utilizing your given assets and fulfilling it with nature automatically fulfills your purposes and, in your terms, your responsibility. Enjoy life which is spontaneous

"Therefore, the cooperation of various parties and ministries is needed to tackle the problem," he said in reply to Datuk Mohamed Aziz (BN-Sri Gading) in the Dewan Rakyat.

ABOVE & BELOW: And into the room they were hearded like cattle

He said the Internal Security Ministry always conducted surveillance on prostitution activities at business premises and among the actions taken was for the local authorities to revoke the licences of premise operators who had abused their licences.

ABOVE & BELOW: The cellphones were still allowed to be used "asking for help" to bail them out

ABOVE & BELOW; a thorn among the roses was also detained. Was he a pimp or just a body guard for these fragile China Dolls

Johari said that based on the surveillance, the authorities had also arrested many local and foreign prostitutes. From 2004 to July 2006, 15,512 foreign women were arrested for being involved in prostitution.

ABOVE & BELOW: And the long... long .. wait for the red tape to record their particulars, investigate their passports for abuse of travle visas

Of them, 6,043 were from China, 4,596 from Indonesia, 2,613 from Thailand, 1,316 from the Philippines, 455 from Vietnam, 114 from Uzbekistan, 112 from India, 54 from Myanmar, six from Russia, six from Laos, 176 from Cambodia and 21 from other countries.

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The 'Can Do Bar': A New Beginning; November 27, 2006 14:47 PM By D. Arul Rajoo

CHIANG MAI, Nov 27 (Bernama) -- Can sex workers design and own a bar, or can they be employed under the labour law and bring disrepute to the labour court? In what is believed to be the first of its kind in the country, women workers in the entertainment industry in this northern Thailand city have established the "Can Do Bar". It is owned by 10 sex workers who spent one million baht to design and operate the bar under an experimental project by the Empower Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that assists sex workers in the kingdom. "We pool our resources and experiences to create this bar. It's open to all sex workers in the city, and those who contributed became our shareholders," said Pornpit Pakmai, a shareholder and coordinator of Empower, here. In a city known for its karaoke, bar and other entertainment outlets that employ more than 20,000 workers, Pornpit said the two-month-old bar wanted to promote itself as a role model where workers were treated fairly under good working conditions. During a visit to the bar by a group of Asian journalists visiting HIV/Aids prevention programmes here under the auspicious of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Pornpit said they had no qualms about being called sex workers. She said any woman who wanted to work at the bar must be above 18 and expose herself as a sex worker to ensure her rights as an employee were recognised. "But we don't encourage sex in our outlets. If our workers want to engage in such activities outside our premises, that are their personal matter," said the mother of a three-year-old girl. Unlike many entertainment outlets where workers are treated like "modern day slaves", the "Can Do Bar" girls work eight hours a day with an hour's rest, voluntary overtime, 10-day paid holidays, 13 public holidays, sick leave and the right to form a union. Besides its usual bar setting, the place was designed to comply with Thai labour law, while workers were given training on occupational health and safety standards, as well as on emergency procedures, first aid and sound system knowledge. While the ground floor also has dancing polls, the second floor has an exhibition area or sex workers' museum showing a collection of adult magazines, books, posted letters covering 400 years of prostitution in the country, a computer with Internet access and a meeting room. Pornpit said workers could rest on the third level. The bar owners are also health-conscious, providing free condoms while all workers must go for monthly medical examinations and screening for HIV/AIDS which is high in the northern region. "It's too early to say whether we are successful or not. We are getting good support from NGOs who organise parties and meetings at our place," said Pornpit.

Being a role model is not the only aim of the establishment. "Opening a Sex Workers University is our long-term aim," said 35-year-old Nui Pitlai, who confessed to having entered the sex industry five years ago. "Many people, including researchers, want to know about the industry, the workers and our problems. Our idea may look very ambitious but we are working towards that," she said. The native of Chiang Mai said they were collecting historical facts and articles on the sex industry that could be useful for the general public. "It's good for us, as we can share our experiences and problems with others, especially students, doctors, nurses and even monks. For example, doctors may feel uncomfortable to talk about sex education or usage of condoms to villagers and students," she added. In fact, Nui said, she and some of her fellow workers had already been assisting government agencies to give sex education to students. Furthermore, Nui said Empower and the bar had become a focal point for bar girls who wanted to marry foreigners and migrate to other countries. "We use the Internet to contact our former colleagues who have already settled down in other countries. They can advise the other girls on the problems and what to expect if they migrate," she added. For sex workers like Pornpit and Nui, the opening of the bar is one way to change the mindsets of people who consider sex workers as not human, and who can be abused and without rights to the legal process.

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S'pore Welcomes 9 Millionth Visitor As Arrivals Hit All-time High; December 06, 2006 14:14 PM By Jackson Sawatan SINGAPORE, Dec 6 (Bernama) -- Singapore welcomed its nine millionth visitor Wednesday, surpassing the whole of last year's record arrivals of 8.9 million.

Dr Vladykina Elena from Russia became the nine millionth visitor when she landed, to a rousing welcome by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), at Singapore Changi Airport this morning. Dr Elena, 29, who was travelling with her husband Dr Vladykin Alexey, 32, and friends for a holiday here, and was pleasantly surprised when a colourful entourage of ethnic dancers and drummers led her on stage to receive her prizes.

"I am very excited and still in shock... I look forward to tasting the local cuisine, visiting attractions and enjoying the prizes I have won," she said. She won among other things, over S$35,000 worth of prizes including complimentary stays at hotels in Singapore, a luxury cruise onboard the SuperStar Gemini, as well as personalised guided tours customised to suit her interests. STB's assistant chief executive (leisure), Dr Chan Tat Hon, said that Singapore was seeing strong growth momentum for its tourism sector. "In 1995, we received more than seven million visitors for the first time. It took us almost 10 years to cross the eight million mark in 2004, and now in just two years, we are crossing the historic milestone of nine million visitors," he said.

Hotel occupancy rates, average room rates and total tourism spend were also seeing record highs. "We achieved average occupancy rates of 85 per cent and average room rate of S$164 for the first 10 months of 2006, which are the highest ever for the last ten years. We are also on track to achieve our 2006 tourism receipts target of S$12 billion, another all time record high," Dr Chan said. Singapore has targeted to attract 17 million arrivals a year in 2015 and tourism receipts of S$30 billion.
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Believe it or NOT, an American old woman in the sixties wearing a "batik sarong" can be accused of Khalwat!. The mostly likely sceniro is that this woman has so much Sun that her complexion has become too tanned and wearing a batik sarong was mistaken to be a Malay woman in close proximity with the American Kwailo and that may be the truth of the matter. Read the Police report filed by the couple and we can see who is telling the truth. The religious people should have more common sense and established the facts first on the status of the “batik clad woman” by making discrete enquiries during daytime rather than frightening them in the middle of the night, trying to catch them "red handed"?

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Mahdzir Clears The Air On Raid On American Couple; December 05, 2006 21:15 ALOR STAR, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- Kedah Menteri Besar Kedah Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, Tuesday cleared the air on the controversy over religious officials' raid on an American couple in Langkawi last month.

He said Randal Barnhart, 62, and his wife Carole, 61, were staying at an apartment when the religious officials checked on them at 2 am on Oct 12. "They have been to Langkawi before but at the time of the inspection they were staying for three weeks ?????????? to have their yatch repaired," he told Kedah state assembly, here Tuesday.

He came to the aid of the state Religious and Human Capital Development Committee Chairman Prof Datuk Othman Ishak who was responding to a question by Fadzil Hanafi (BN-Alor Mengkudu) on media reports about a close proximity (khalwat) arrest involving an American couple who were non-Muslims in Langkawi.

"During their stay, his (Barnhart)'s wife like to wear a batik sarung, so the local people thought she was a local and reported it to the Langkawi Religious Office," said Mahdzir. He said the situation was quite tense when Barnhart quarrelled with the religious officials and policemen who made the inspection. Unhappy over the incident, he said Barnhart made a police report and wrote to Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

"He claimed that he was disturbed in the middle of the night. He didn't know we have religious officials for he thought there were only policemen," said Mahdzir, adding that what were reported in the mainstream newspapers were accurate but "mosquito" newspapers sensationalised the story. Earlier, Othman said what was reported in the newspapers should not be believed.

= = = = = ==and here is the NST account on Kedah MB reply. Check the accuracy of the reports and the facts and can spot the differences? Bernama says 3 weeks and NST says 3 days rental, who do we believe?

At the Kedah State Assembly: Pas chief backs media on khalwat raid reports

06 Dec 2006; Report by Ahmad Fairuz Othman, NST

STATE opposition leader Azizan Abdul Razak (Pas-Sungai Limau) came to the Press’ defence when an exco member alleged that many stories reported by newspapers were untrue. Azizan, who is also state Pas commissioner, apologised to reporters covering the sitting yesterday. Turning to them, he repeated the allegation made by state Islamic Religious and Human Capital Development Committee chairman Prof Datuk Othman Ishak (BN-Jitra) on news reports of a khalwat raid on an elderly American couple in Langkawi two months ago. "I apologise to all journalists here but a representative of the state government has said that newspaper reports cannot be trusted," he said. "Thank you for confirming two things. Firstly, for answering the question on whether there was an investigation before the khalwat raid and, secondly, for implying that newspapers lied," he said. Azizan’s comment prompted Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid (BN-Pedu) to stand up and say that Othman had directed his allegation to suratkhabar nyamuk (trashy tabloids) and not the mainstream media.

Although he did not name them, Mahdzir blamed suratkhabar nyamuk for twisting the facts of the case. Othman was responding to a question from Fadzil Hanafi (BN-Alor Mengkudu), who had asked for clarification on the case. In his reply, Othman said: "You can read the newspapers, but the facts are incorrect." It was here that Azizan interjected.

Meanwhile, Mahdzir said there was nothing wrong with the reports in mainstream newspapers. He said the American couple had rented the condominium unit for three days????????????? while waiting for their boat to be repaired. However, some residents at the condominium became suspicious when they saw an American woman dressed in a batik sarong on numerous occasions in the building. "Suspecting something amiss, they reported the matter to the department. "The officers confronted the couple and there was tension between them. However, the officers were satisfied that the couple was married and the matter was resolved." He added the couple was dissatisfied and felt humiliated and lodged a police report and complained to the Tourism Ministry.

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Contd.. Reading the latest post at 620am;

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