Are Raids On Alleged Gay Premises Just Smokescreen To Divert Attention From Major National Blunders

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BLUE Boy. Liquid. Velvet. Lost World. Jurassic Park.
To city dwellers who revelled in Kuala Lumpur’s vibrant nightlife in the 1990s, those names would certainly ring a bell.
Believe it or not, establishments catering to the LGBTQ+ (or just plain ‘gay’ before the fancy, all-inclusive acronym) crowd are nothing new.
According to beauty pageant judge Francis Yip Cheng on Facebook, the ‘gay’ scene that was very happening during pre-millennium point to two realities.
First, there is a gay community in Malaysia. They exist and did not just suddenly pop up in recent times.
Secondly, it was sizeable enough for a number of establishments to want to cater to this clientele – be it in the form of bars, karaoke joints and yes, wellness centres featuring saunas and jacuzzis.

It is in the latter category that the recently raided spa – Otot Otot sauna – in Jalan Raja Laut belongs to.
Given that these establishments are nothing new (Otot Otot first opened its doors in the mid-1990s) and had even been previously visited by the coppers, why the huge publicity and intense scrutiny on the Nov 28 raid that saw 201 men detained?
Smokescreen
It has thus been insinuated that this raid was orchestrated as a diversionary tactic from the many “hot issues” that are beleaguering the current Madani administration.
As highlighted by Annoyed Malaysian (@annoyedmalaysian) on X, the public and media must remain vigilant and not be side-tracked by attempts to sway their attention away ” from Albert Tei, Shamsul Iskandar & the Haresh Deol case”.
“Don’t fall for it and keep our eyes on the corrupt prize,” reminded the self-proclaimed liberal secularist for futuristic Malaysia who was reacting to a post by Maxie (@maxzchua) that raids of such nature “always happen each time there’re big issues in the country”.

One commenter was also quick to add to the list of thorny issues currently hogging the headlines, namely the demolition of homes in Kampung Papan, Klang and that of “the useless App 999”.

Such murmurs of convenient smokescreens were also given credence with the perceived hash job of prosecuting the detainees with the magistrate eventually throwing out the application for remand as it was described as a “victimless crime”.
The sense that these men were a convenient diversion was all too obvious in the question posed by climate change advocate aidil (@climateaidil).
Expressing surprise that the coppers found no evidence or indeed a legal basis to charge the detainees after “traumatising” them seemed to support the view that the raid was carried out merely to create salacious headlines.

Highlighting the effectiveness of using this case as a diversionary tactic, one commenter claimed that beating the LGBTQ+ community with a religion-approved stick was effective propaganda. It is all too convenient to target an already marginalised community.

Too many coincidences
There are few realities this sorry episode highlights.
Firstly, by villainising the detainees and highlighting the alleged activities in such establishments in lurid detail is sure to capture the attention of the Malaysian public.
Ever since “an infamous mattress” was paraded in court, it has been proven time and again that s*x sells and Malaysians’ appetite for the salacious remain undimmed.

Secondly, victimising the LGBTQ+ community is convenient as the powers-that-be know that the vast majority of Malaysians will react negatively to this group.
There was no shortage of homophobic vitriol online accompanying articles or posts on the Otot Otot raid with many using religion as a justification for their holier-than-thou views.
Last but not least, the fact that this incident occurred on the same weekend as the Sabah state polls made a few people wonder about the timing of this raid.
That businessman Datuk Albert Tei and former senior political secretary to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Akin, were both detained and remanded in connection to a corruption scandal the same weekend lend credence to the view that Otot Otot and its unfortunate clientele have been ambushed.
Coincidence or carefully orchestrated smokescreen? –  Focus Malaysia

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