Massage in the‘right’ places, please

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Local councils to make sure massage centres no fronts for vice activities

KUCHING: Local authorities have every right to withdraw the licences of massage centres found to be engaging in immoral activities, said Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman, yesterday.

Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman

Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman

Speaking to reporters after the opening of the 4th Track and Field Competition of SMK Matang Jaya here, Daud said massage parlours, like any other business operations, were legal for as long as they did what was right before the law.

He said it was accepted fact that generally a good massage would make people feel fresh and healthy, thus if these centres were massaging for the health of clients then there was no reason to be suspicious of them.

“Massage by all means…the ordinary massage. But don’t massage in the wrong places. If you do, we’ll withdraw your licence,” Daud said, adding that the local authorities had been told to act tough on any massage centres used as a front for sex services.

“For local authorities, if it’s just ordinary massages like those common in reflexology, of course they are allowable,” he reiterated.

Daud also said that anyone, irrespective of his race or religion, had every right to patronise a massage centre if it was for nothing else but a ‘good massage’.

On claims that Muslims made up the majority of patrons of massage centres, Daud said the law would go after them if they were patronising these centres to satisfy their lust.

“The problem only begins when some operators go beyond just massaging…doing immoral things.

“If that happens, tell the local authorities because we don’t want massage centers to be turned into vice dens,” Daud said.

He further said that members of the public knowing of such activities in massage centres must tell the local authorities the ‘complete picture’.

“We’ll monitor and investigate, and we’ll be careful because we don’t want to cause people unnecessary embarrassment,” he stressed.

“So far, we are yet to receive any complaint in Kuching,” he added.

On claims that secondary school students were the main buyers of condoms at a neighbourhood convenience store here, the assistant minister said shop operators should not be selling condoms to children.

It was reported in The Borneo Post yesterday that a staff of a convenience store here had revealed that the majority of their condom-buying customers were secondary school students.

The female staff who spoke on condition of anonymity disclosed that whenever these young students wanted to purchase the condoms, she had no choice but to oblige as there was no age restriction as to who could or could not buy.

“It is different when they want to buy cigarettes because I can always say ‘no’ since it is wrong under the law in our country to sell cigarettes to minors,” she said.