History & Law of Prostitution: Can Brothels Exist in M'sia?

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Popular Malaysian actor, Rosyam Nor is under fire for saying that brothels are needed in Malaysia to satisfy the sexual urges of foreigners who have come to work in our country. In his podcast, ‘Hitam Putih Kehidupan’, the actor explained his stance on prostitution:

“There are about 3 million foreigners in our country. They left their wives back home. Since they’re men, if they don’t release their urges at brothels, where are they going to release it? When they see our wives and daughters walk-by, they might even rape them. “

After processing that information, it’s interesting to see that while the majority of Malaysians mati-mati disagree with that statement, some are actually for the proposal. But is it possible to legalise sex work and brothels in Malaysia? And could it be that people are just mad because it came out of the mouth of a dude that plays samsengs in movies?

Well, to answer these questions we need to take a look at the laws and history of sex work in Malaysia. But before we get into that, let us explain why we believe Rosyam Nor is definitely not the face of this supposed movement…

Rosyam Naurrrr 😖

Rosyam Nor brothels prostitution in Malaysia — Rosyam Nor as a pimp in *Bara*

Rosyam Nor is an actor who is known for his roles in movies like Bara; where he plays the head of a prostitution ring, Lenjan; where he plays a psychopathic killer and rapist and KL-Gangster 2; where he plays a top gangster who ends up raping a woman for revenge against his rivals. While his filmography may be stacked with all those versatile roles, he also dons different hats outside of the arts.

A buddy to former Prime Minister turned convict, Najib Razak, Rosyam likes to dabble in politics as well. Actually, you might remember him from a promotional video for a campaign he was involved in with former Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, Rina Harun. In the now-deleted video posted onto Rina’s TikTok, he addresses women by saying,

“Wake up late, everything late. Women are always late. Wake up! Come to PWTC for my programme with Rina and the ministry. Just come at 9am. See me there so I can whack your heads.”

Rosyam Nor on brothels and prostitution in Malaysia — If Tailong had a podcast… oh wait (unedited image source: Cinema Online)

The actor has been in the public eye for decades, even receiving accolades for his convincing performances in films. To remain relevant, he started the podcast, ‘Hitam Putih Kehidupan’, where he discusses controversial topics with guests. Other than this recent incident, he has also given his two-cents on the topic of career women where he says,

“Shouldn’t women stay at home? When women are successful and have a lot of money, they start to show off. They start to raise their voices… Most of them when they have money, they become arrogant.”

At this point, his suggestion to use women to satisfy the needs of men isn’t too far off from what he has said in the past. And recently, many politicians and religious officials have slammed the actor’s statement, calling it demeaning to women, opposing the teachings of Islam and overall downright impossible.

Legalising prostitution in Malaysia — source: Twitter

While that may be the case, one Twitter user has been gaining traction with their response towards Rosyam’s video by saying that sex work should be legal in Malaysia. In their opinion, legalising sex work and requiring sex workers to register themselves gives them legal protection from abuse and allows the government to collect income tax.

But what does the current law have to say about this?

Prostitution is illegal… kinda?

Prostitution in Malaysia — source: Flickr / AskLegal

If you ask anyone in Malaysia if sex work is prohibited, they will definitely say, “Opkos lah!” But actually, the legality of sex work in Malaysia is kinda hard to understand, especially when you’re just a regular pleb without a law degree. In fact, there are different sections of the Malaysian Penal Code that address this, but you have to korek to find the answer that you actually want.

The thing is, the Malaysian Penal Code clearly states under Section 372 that exploiting people for the purpose of prostitution or advertising sexual services in any form is strictly illegal. Senang kata, pimps and those “volcano massage” ads you see on the tiang elektrik are big no-nos in Malaysia. Other than that, under Section 373 and 366 respectively, it addresses the managing of brothels and kidnapping with intent to force into prostitution as illegal as well. Tapi mana the act of prostitution itself?

Well, that’s actually tucked under Section 372(b), where it states that whoever solicits prostitution shall be punished with imprisonment, fines or both. Kenapa tak cakap awal-awal? So, not only is the act illegal in the eyes of federal law, it is also illegal in the eyes of Shariah law, which states that anyone found guilty can even be punished through whipping. And since we have to sift through a lot of law jargon to find that out, it leaves a lot of Malaysians confused. But we’re not the only country scratching our heads at the complicated law.

Prostitution in Southeast Asia — The more you know…

Did you know that prostitution is also illegal in Thailand? Yeah, the country where you can walk on the streets, be tapped on the shoulder and asked, “Hi hensem boi, you want full body Thai masaj?” also considers the act illegal. Actually, all countries in Southeast Asia, despite how openly they offer sex services, consider it a crime. It’s just that most of these countries have looser regulations than Malaysia. But, in countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia, activists are pushing to legalise prostitution, so workers can get rights similar to the working class.

So, what’s stopping Malaysia from doing this, especially since prostitution in our country dates all the way back to the mid 1800s?

Your atok moyang used to frequent brothels

Reproduced from Fotoalbum Singapur (1890). Collection of the National Library, Singapore (source: Biblio Asia)

Believe it or not, back in the mid 1800s to the 1930s, Malaysia (or Malaya if you will) was a place rampant with drugs, gambling and of course – prostitution. The malu-malu culture we have today didn’t exist back then and our great, great, great grandfathers would actually frequent brothels whenever they were bored by their ugly wives at home. Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! This is from an actual quote that reads,

“…[T]heir wives who were young, pretty and graceful once, but for want of exercise soon renders them obese and unwieldy and after bearing a few children, they generate into ugly bags.” – via Prostitution in Colonial Malaya with Special Reference to Penang: Some Preliminary Thoughts.

These establishments were actually licensed in colonial Malaya, which is why in 1983, there was an estimated 2,188 licensed prostitutes in Penang, Melaka and Singapore alone. Basically, sex workers were given the rights of any working class member of society. They were even given health checks to prevent them from contracting venereal diseases.

The reason why this happened was because there was an imbalance of genders. Men were outnumbered by women 3-1 and with the influx of foreign labourers who needed a place to release their tension, sex work became a profitable market. But if you’re thinking, “Ha tengok! Pendatang ni buat hal lagi!”, well, hold your kuda. The locals went to these brothels too and surprisingly, it wasn’t them who were bothered by it.

Mr. Burns spits out his #tea | Simpsons cartoon, The simpsons, Simpsons art — The Brits when they found out about all the hanky panky business

Ekcheli, it was the British themselves (yeah, they started it and now they mengada wanna end it) that began to second-guess the prevalence of sex work. Due to the great British empire, they were concerned that having sex workers around wasn’t good for their image. Therefore, the Brits outlawed it in the 1930s due to “health and morality” reasons. From there, “sly prostitution”, which is basically the same thing but done in secret, gained popularity.

That leads us to where we are now. Prostitution still exists today, but it’s disguised under volcano massages, karaoke bars and nightclubs. While that might not surprise most of you, the takeaway here is that these women are still working, but they’re no longer protected, which exposes them to the harsher realities of the everyday Malaysian.

Sex workers even face discrimination in healthcare!

In 2023, a study showed that 6%-11% of female sex workers had HIV infection, which is 10 times more than the general population. To compare, in New Zealand where sex work is legal, HIV prevalence amongst sex workers is estimated at only 0.1%-1%. The Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) has been rallying for more self-testing among sex workers in Malaysia, since according to them, there is a blatant discrimination among healthcare providers towards the group. That’s not surprising considering how we view sex workers in Malaysia.

They’re treated worse than trash on the street. Even the federal law, which states that only the sex worker is punishable, but the client can get off (literally) scot-free, is enough to show just how much we don’t care. Regardless of the Federal Constitution stating that, “All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law,” morality, which is the same reason cited by the Brits 94 years ago, remains in the way of destigmatising and legalising sex work.

A police raid at a brothel in Hamburg, Germany (source: DW)

To make things worse, even the countries that claim to legalise sex work aren’t doing it properly. In fact, most of them aren’t even fully legal. For most European countries, they will have different rules depending on where you are in the country. In some places you are allowed to independently sell and buy sex, but some places require you to be part of a brothel. And that also depends on whether the brothels are registered, which often times, they are not. So if brothels are still taboo, you can forget about pimps.

If you pening kepala now, you might want to pop a Panadol because even when countries have legalised sex work, people are still unhappy. Take for example Germany, which has been deemed the “brothel of Europe.” After more than two decades of legalising sex work, politicians are still planning to ban it, stating that it is “immoral and unacceptable.” So, even when sex workers feel like they have won the fight, a new battle arises and they have to go through the whole thing over and over again.

Legalising prostitution is impossible… at least for now

Thomas Rowlandson’s Touch for Touch (source: Slumexplorers)

Despite being a booming business with revenue estimated at RM5 billion to RM7 billion yearly, nobody takes sex work seriously. These women are subjected to imprisonment, hefty fines, abuse and diseases, yet they still do it. Why?

Did you know that working at a brothel can pay twice as much compared to a retail job? With Malaysia’s rising poverty rates, it’s not hard to understand how desperation can force these women into sex work. It’s not an easy job, especially when Malaysia refers to sex workers as pelacur and bohsia in various local movies, which Rosyam Nor is an avid participant.

Malaysia has come a long way on many frontiers, but on certain issues, we remain stagnant. There have actually been many calls to legalise sex work in Malaysia. If we do this, it will stimulate our economy in the form of revenue gains and criminal justice system savings. But if we don’t do it properly (or at all), we’ll just be wasting money and time.

Until we address morality to its fullest instead of picking and choosing where we should apply it, the topic of legalising sex work will only be discussed on cheap, clickbaity podcasts.