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The Star

Two foreign men were each fined 5,000 ringgit (US$1,200) by a court in Malaysia after pleading guilty to wearing indecent clothes during a controversial running event.
Satyanarayana Prasad Papoli, 70, and Arthur Wang, 66, pleaded guilty after the charges were read to them before Magistrate Nurkhalida Farhana Abu Bakar on Monday.
The charges were read in Mandarin to Wang, of Taiwan, and in English to Satyanarayana, from India.
According to the charge sheets, both men were accused of committing an obscene act that caused disturbance to others in a public place by wearing indecent clothing.
The act was committed near a hotel in Jalan Utama Jalan Desaru, Pengerang, between 4pm and 6pm on Friday.


Public indecency is an offence under Section 294 of Malaysia’s Penal Code, which carries a punishment upon conviction of imprisonment for up to three months or a fine, or both.
The case was prosecuted by Johor state prosecution director Abdul Ghafar Ab Latif and deputy public prosecutors Ahmad Khairuddin Khalid and Foo Fang Leong, while both accused were not represented.
During the proceeding, Abdul Ghafar requested a heavier penalty as the offence had caused public grievances.
He also said the penalty should serve as a lesson to both visitors and locals to adhere to norms in the country.
In his defence, Wang, who is unemployed, said he was unfamiliar with Malaysian norms and he had no intention to cause a public grievance.
I would like to apologise to the people of this country and Malaysians in general
Arthur Wang, 66-year-old Taiwanese
“For the past 10 years, I have been promoting the aboriginal culture of Orchid Island in Taiwan. Had I known that the clothing [would be regarded as] indecent [here], I would not have worn it.
“I would like to apologise to the people of this country and Malaysians in general, and I promise that I will not repeat this mistake,” he said, adding that he is also unemployed.
Meanwhile, Satyanarayana said it was not unusual for men to wear women’s clothing during hash events.
“I came here with the pure intention of doing charity. However, I admit my mistake of wearing women’s clothing,” he said, adding that he is a former lawyer and suffers from heart disease.

The court then fined each man 5,000 ringgit in default of one month’s jail. Both accused paid the fine.
Earlier, Johor police chief M. Kumar had said police arrested three men, including two foreigners, for committing indecent behaviour during a controversial running event in Kota Tinggi.
The three suspects aged 39 to 70 were arrested at a hotel in Kota Tinggi at around 10pm on Saturday.
“Their arrest is to help with the investigation of their involvement in carrying out indecent behaviour, including public exposure, during the running event,” he said.
“Police also seized several accessories from the suspects including a red sari, a red skirt, three silver coloured pieces of cardboard with a fake spear shaft.”
On Saturday, Johor’s chief minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the state government would investigate the controversial running event after concerns were raised over participants’ inappropriate clothing.
He stressed that the event, which sparked outrage on social media, was not organised by the state government or any of its agencies.
This story was first published by The Star


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Satyanarayana Prasad Papoli, 70, and Arthur Wang, 66, pleaded guilty to committing an obscene act that caused disturbance to others


Satyanarayana Prasad Papoli, 70, and Arthur Wang, 66, pleaded guilty to committing an obscene act that caused disturbance to others.
