Prostitution is restricted and any activities related to brothels are illegal in many countries including Malaysia. Those engaging in these activities will be arrested and punished according to the law.
Sex workers are always frowned upon by society even though many of them are dealt with a bad hand and have to resort to this job in order to survive. A few hotspots were recently raided by the police and while most people were happy with the results, one celeb is speaking up for the arrested sex workers.
Over the weekend, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) raided and closed down about 4 prostitution premises. In a posting on the official Facebook page, it was written that the authorities have identified these locations through intel and observation. A total of 36 foreign women were arrested for conducting, what was described as, immoral activities.
After news of the arrest broke out, Malaysian rapper Namewee took to Facebook to criticise DBKL for prioritising catching only sex workers rather than those he considers actual criminals. “The Malaysian police only dare to catch these poor women. Go catch robbers, murderers, and fraudsters, and then take photos and post them up to show how good you are,” he wrote.
The controversial celeb then called for the legalisation of prostitution, believing that the proposal will be beneficial as it can reduce the crime rate of sexual assault and reduce the chances of mistresses destroying families. “The government can effectively control these owners, stipulate the use of condoms, effectively control sexually transmitted diseases, and provide regular physical examinations for prostitutes,” he elaborated.
The 39-year-old further explained that the government can use the opportunity to promote tourism in Malaysia with the business and to raise taxes reasonably so that the country can earn more money. The Taiwan-based artist ended his post by saying, “If you ban it, it will still be there, so it is better to face it, solve the problem and turn a double loss into a win-win situation.”
Even if prostitution were to be made legal, the stigma of sex workers will still take a long time to overcome as many still deemed the workers as immoral, unclean, and dangerous. What do you think of Namewee’s proposal? Did he make any valid points?
