Khalwat in Klang! Muslims in love.

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Friday, February 16, 2001 Malaysia Star

'Act of love' turns sour for 104 couples

By Loong Meng Yee

KLANG: The song Love is in the Air may have been on the minds of many couples on Valentine's Day, but the "act of love'' for many Muslim couples was nipped in the bud when the statewide Ops Mawar Merah swooped in on some 200 couples in hotels, lovers' haunts and bushes and 104 couples were held for khalwat.

According to sources, among those caught was an Education Ministry senior officer, a well-known figure in the golfing community and a 19-year-old female undergraduate from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

The senior officer, in his 40s, was caught in a hotel room with a 17-year-old sex worker in Subang Jaya. The golfer, also in his 40s, was caught in a hotel in Klang with his woman companion.

The 19-year-old undergraduate was also caught in a hotel room in Klang with her non-Muslim boyfriend.

Selangor Islamic Affairs Department deputy enforcement director Ustaz Mohd Amin Husin said in a statement that 44 of the couples were charged under Section 29(1)(a)(b) of the state syariah Crime Enactment 1995 yesterday.

Section 29 deals with men and women who are with persons other than their spouses or blood relations in any secluded place which may give rise to the suspicion they are engaged in an immoral act.

If convicted, they may face a fine of up to a maximum of RM3,000 or a jail term of not more than two years or both.

The remaining 60 couples were directed to go for counselling as their offences--cuddling and kissing in secluded places--were not deemed as "severe''.

Mohd Amin said about 100 other couples who produced their marriage certificates were released.

Ops Mawar Merah which commenced at 9pm on Wednesday and ended at 4am yesterday, was conducted by three groups.

The operations targeted haunts such as Tanjung Harapan in Port Klang, hotels, public parks and bushes in dark places.

Asked if Jais was inconsiderate in conducting such an operation on Valentine's Day, a Jais officer said that only those expressing the "wrong kind of love'' were detained.

"We found many couples holding hands or sitting together in parks. We did not arrest them. We advised them to go home.

"Those we detained were couples in hotel rooms, inside cars and in dark places,'' said the source, adding that some of the couples were caught in compromising positions while others were indecently dressed.

As for taking the press along during the operation, the source said it reflected transparency on Jais' part, adding that the publicity served to remind other Muslims to toe the line.

The source also said that the enforcement team which had checked certain establishments in Subang Jaya was followed by their bouncers to the district religious office with the intention of assaulting Jais officers.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), February 16, 2001

Answers

Asked if Jais was inconsiderate in conducting such an operation on Valentine's Day, a Jais officer said that only those expressing the "wrong kind of love'' were detained.

"We found many couples holding hands or sitting together in parks. We did not arrest them. We advised them to go home.

It makes you appreciate living and loving in America, doesn't it :o)

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), February 16, 2001.


Note to self: Cancel any/all Port Klang, Malaysia vacation plans which coincide with potential Ops Mawar Merah operations dates.

-- CD (costavike@hotmail.com), February 16, 2001.

Kind of puts Christians in perspective.

-- (Paracelsus@Pb.Au), February 16, 2001.

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