(Featured image from themalaymailonline.com)
Wait, what?
Apparently, a 5-minute odd video depicting a “nude sports games” in Penang had made its rounds on the interwebs. It was first uploaded to Vimeo, showcasing 18 nudists aka “naturists” frolicking and taking part in physical activities out in the open. We’re talking, racing each other, performing kettle bell exercises, and even some straddling of one another – all in their respective “birthday suits”.
While it looks like the “sports games” were held on a secluded beach and away from probing eyes, it sparked quite a controversy amongst netizens. Some supported the “naturists” by saying that they had every right to go “cloth-and-stitch-free” while others condemned by commenting that it’s illegal to go naked in public. Nobody really knows how authentic the video was or the exact location of the beach, a summary of the video (which was credited to someone named Albert Yam) claimed that the group took a boat ride out of Teluk Bahang Jetty to reach a “secret beach that is located around the back” of Penang island.
A park ranger taking care of the beach had also allegedly granted clearance for the event, it seems.
Click to watch the video here (WARNING: NSFW).
On top of that, the video also came with a brief review by a member named Justin. It reads as such:
On that day, we all assembled at the Teluk Bahang Jetty in Penang. Many of us arrived early and went to the nearest Malay food restaurant to grab our lunch which is only located just outside of the jetty’s main entrance. It was such a lovely sunny afternoon and we are all excited about this event. Later as the time reaches 2.30pm, we walked to the jetty and met up with the others who have also just arrived. One of our nudist friend CWeston, was not able to attend the event because he was on a family trip in Penang but he showed up anyway at the jetty just to watch us go off into our boats and wished us all the best for our event. As we waited for the boatmen to get ready, the skies was already starting to look gloomy and the waves start to get a little rough. We split into 2 boats and thus begin our journey to the secret beach that is located around the back of the Penang island. As we’re traveling through the seas, it was a bumpy ride as the boat sways up & down through the rough waves. It was thrilling yet fun. We were all laughing and smiling to each other. We also took several selfie photos too =) Then we finally arrived to our destination. It was a very quiet beach. The atmosphere was so calm and peaceful. The view of the beach and sea was spectacular. We were the only visitors there. We unload our things from the boat and ms Chew went to approach a ranger whom is in charge of that place & also who was apparently on duty alone by himself on that fine day. After verifying with the ranger about our nude event, we moved to a hut nearby and start stripping. We begin our first activity with nude body painting. Everyone actively took part in this. We took turns by painting someone’s else body and later get painted in return. There were many interesting and nice body drawings. Some of us had flowers, trees, abstract and even cartoon character drawings on our bodies. Then we took many photos of each other. We also moved to the beach and took several group photos of our body paintings. Later that, we proceed to our next activity which was the sports games where we played pass-the-baton running, swim-over-body challenge and the group crab walk. There were so much of laughter everywhere and by the time we entered the 3rd game, many of us were already exhausted. We then took a nude walk along the beach which stretches about 2km long. There were also some of us went to skinny dip in the sea. One of the person among us was our videographer and he recorded every moments of our event without missing a single one. The beach is so clean and the sands are so fine. Along the way, you can also find seashells laying around the beach. As we walked further up til the far end of the beach, we came across some very nice looking rocks that are great for taking pictures and we did plenty of photo sessions there. Our videographer also went to interview a few of us about the joys and perspective of naturism for our event video. We literally had the whole beach to ourselves. It really felt like a nude beach because everyone that are present there are all nude. There were no disturbance from the outside world. For once we really get to enjoy the natural environment and atmosphere just as how nature intended it to be. After all the fun, we walked back to our hut. As we reached the hut, suddenly a boat appeared from the sea and arrived at our beach. We quickly dress up just in time and later found out that the men in the boat actually brought our meals for dinner. We had asam laksa, nasi lemak, mihun goreng, chicken satay, fish barbeque, keropok lekor and Sarsi syrup. We had a wonderful dinner. There were so much of food to eat until eventually there were a few leftovers and extra packets of food left. Then we decided to save some for supper. After dinner, we had our shower and went to set up our sleeping bags. We even set up a tent in the hut specially catered for those who gets bitten by mosquitoes alot. We also went to set up a camp fire just outside of the hut. We used the natural resources we can find within our reach such as branches, dry leaves and etc to start the fire. We even got some assistance from the ranger where he splashed some kerosene to get the flames bigger. After the fire is stable, some of us strip and stand around the fire while enjoying the beauty of it burning in the dark.
Surprisingly, there’s even an actual community and forum for nudists.
But perhaps the icing on the cake is the fact that somewhere in between all the reports, it has come to our knowledge that the Malaysia Nude Sport Games 2014 is an annual event. Whoa, annual? Right under everyone’s noses? What do you guys think though? Should people be given the freedom to enjoy being nude or did this group clearly cross the line this time?
UPDATE:
According to Malay Mail Online, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has stepped forward to say that Penang did not allow any illegal nude events to be held on its shores. He claimed ignorance of a nude event supposed to have been called the “Malaysia-International Nude Sports Games 2014 Extravaganza” held on the island 2 months ago, adding that the state would never permit such an illegal event to be held.
“It is important to note that in Penang, we don’t even allow casinos to be built, we will definitely not allow such an event to be held here. I can guarantee that Penang state government will not issue any approval for such an event to be held here,” he said in a press conference at his office today.
The matter has since been handed over to the police to investigate.