Sabah official blames Malaysia earthquake on naked tourists

[webfact]

Sabah official blames earthquake on naked tourists

KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia - A group of tourists who stripped naked on top of Mt Kinabalu in Malaysia are being blamed for Friday's earthquake which killed at least 16 people.

Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, deputy chief minister of the state of Sabah where the quake was centred, has condemned the "uncivilized and disrespectful" actions. He called for the culprits to be brought to a native court and charged according to local customs.

"Whether other people believe this or not, it's what we Sabahans believe. When the earthquake happened, it's like a confirmation of our beliefs," the Malay Mail online quoted Pairin saying.

Pairin is also the Huguon Siou, or paramount leader of the Kadazan-Dusun - a term to describe the two indigenous tribes in Sabah.

"It is a sacred mountain and you cannot take it lightly," Pairin said in a press conference.

Locals who live at the foothills of Mt Kinabalu believe the mountain is sacred and carries the spirit of their ancestors.

Pairin said he had a premonition something bad was going to happen when he saw a flight of swallows circling outside his house during breakfast last week.

"At first I didn't think anything of it, but after it went on for more than half an hour I knew something was not well," he said.

"The next day, I was on the way to the airport when the earthquake occurred. To me, when something like this happens, it is a clear connection of the incident to the earthquake that has brought about so much damage and loss of lives."

Full story: http://www.eturbonews.com/59931/sabah-official-blames-earthquake-naked-tourists

-- eTN 2015-06-08

[geriatrickid]

Will sacrifices be made to appease the anger of these mountain spirits?

I appreciate that people shouldn't go around upsetting cultural taboos, but the selfies were made in "privacy", i.e. not in the presence of locals. It is hard to take people seriously when they are full blown hypocrites. If they are so concerned with respecting the mountain, maybe the locals should respect its fauna and forest. The lower levels of the mountain have been subject to illegal timber cutting. The animals including snakes and birds and been killed off. When I was in Kota Kinabalu, it was a rather depressing dirty town. Raw sewage poured into the waterways, garbage was everywhere and the last thing on anyone's mind was respect for the local environment. Sarawak is just as bad and the water off Kuching was a dead zone when I was there.

Edited June 8, 2015 by geriatrickid

[saakura]

All what you have mentioned above could be quite true and they need to wake up and take care of their surroundings and environmental degradation, but that does not give any right to the tourists to disregard local customs and taboos. Saying that they did it in privacy is a lame excuse. There are many unattended temples here. What if i stood on a buddha in privacy and posted on facebook?

[daoyai]

Bottom line, the tourists are idiots for needing naked pics and the locals are idiots for caring AND believing that this could cause an earthquake....idiots all.....

[thaibeachlovers]

If anyone needed a reason to believe that some people are morons......................................

[Chicog]

Bit like that turnip that said the tsunami was punishment for all the western hedonism in Phuket.

Gormless <deleted> didn't realise how many "good" Muslims it wiped out across the region.

[Reigntax]

"the mountain is sacred and carries the spirit of their ancestors."

It must be their families old moonshiners site!

[BMF1960]

If only stupidity were an industry listed on the stock exchange - I would bet the bank on it, cause it is clearly on the rise!

[Basil B]

Then me think Pattaya will be hit by one massive asteroid tomorrow.

[weegee]

And that country is a leading player in ASEAN...!

Did anyone tell them , if they keeping asking Aust for monetary handouts all the time, the Sea Dragon will return and consume them all.....

[jmccarty]

And that country is a leading player in ASEAN...!

Did anyone tell them , if they keeping asking Aust for monetary handouts all the time, the Sea Dragon will return and consume them all.....

I think it called "Naga Laut" or something like that!

[ggold]

All what you have mentioned above could be quite true and they need to wake up and take care of their surroundings and environmental degradation, but that does not give any right to the tourists to disregard local customs and taboos. Saying that they did it in privacy is a lame excuse. There are many unattended temples here. What if i stood on a buddha in privacy and posted on facebook?

That's all well and good if the tourists knew it was a sacred site. Maybe it should have been off limits to tourists if it was that sacred? How can you offend if you don't know the offence?

But any level headed educated person knows this is not the reason for the earthquake. Pure superstition is all this is, probably said to appease the locals.

[Shiver]

Let me get this straight:

A bunch of naked birds flying around his house is a prediction.

A bunch of naked birds running around taking selfies is the cause ?

Edited June 8, 2015 by Shiver

[klauskunkel]

"It is a sacred mountain and you cannot take it lightly," Pairin said

Pairin said he had a premonition something bad was going to happen when he saw a flight of swallows circling outside his house during breakfast last week.

"The next day, I was on the way to the airport when the earthquake occurred.

Dear Paramount Leader, with a set of beliefs like yours, shouldn't you take the traditional canoe and not the modern plane?

[F430murci]

Articles like this keep me coming back here for more. Love it!

[gchurch259]

Do they have a sign that advises the possibilty of Earth Quakes if caught naked on the Mountain, I think not !!

It is amazing how backward and superstitious some cultures are. One wpould believe none of the natives ever got naked and made out on the mountain, again I think so !!

Please understand I would personally never do that. My Mother taught me better !!

[MobileContent]

I banged a married woman on Mt Kinabalu almost 9 years ago.

[GoodThaiGirl]

for a minute there i thought we were the only backward country in asia..feeling pretty smug now..

[ggt]

If naked tourists caused earthquakes...the world would have already died from exposure...

[basatop]

Will sacrifices be made to appease the anger of these mountain spirits?

I appreciate that people shouldn't go around upsetting cultural taboos, but the selfies were made in "privacy", i.e. not in the presence of locals. It is hard to take people seriously when they are full blown hypocrites. If they are so concerned with respecting the mountain, maybe the locals should respect its fauna and forest. The lower levels of the mountain have been subject to illegal timber cutting. The animals including snakes and birds and been killed off. When I was in Kota Kinabalu, it was a rather depressing dirty town. Raw sewage poured into the waterways, garbage was everywhere and the last thing on anyone's mind was respect for the local environment. Sarawak is just as bad and the water off Kuching was a dead zone when I was there.

You are very right,but not 100%,some of the offending pics were posted on FB,one showing 5 of them

naked,pissing in the air,Mt.Kinabalu in background - you can not call it "privacy"?

And there is something else:Malaysians use this story to distract public opinion from their failure

in rescue operation.

There were more then dozen dead,half of them school children,many more wounded.

Helicopters did not come for rescue...

Only one dropped 2 bags with food,but sadly...missed,bags landed in place impossible to access.

Helicopter left and did not come back.

Local guides were much better,then local authorities and everybody praise them,guides saved many lives.

Place was very dangerous with big rocks tumbling down.

[peterb17]

I banged a married woman on Mt Kinabalu almost 9 years ago.

Nice

[joshstiles]

yeah right....NSA blames me for the numerous tornado outbreaks in the US because I sleep naked and fart in my sleep

[chickenslegs]

I banged a married woman on Mt Kinabalu almost 9 years ago.

Was it Mrs MobileContent?

Did the earth move for you too?

[Publicus]

This is what's called a teaching moment for the primitives in their own native habitat.

Everyone should sit on the mountain in the same spot, say their piece and sing Kumbaya.

Then put their clothes back on.

This kinda reminds me when I was in S Korea and a Korean young English teacher (male) informed me authoritatively there are spirits that come up out of the ground that make the Korean people Korean.

I asked what happened in North Korea and he said it's all basically the same cause they are Korean there too no matter what. So I said inquisitively the spirits stop at the border with China and at the water's edge and he said yes, it's absolutely so, from the beginning of time to the end of time. I asked about the water...three miles out, 12 miles out, 200?

It wuz soon after that I relocated to Thailand and the Sleeping Buddha where the real fun began.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Publicus

[Godders]

I banged a married woman on Mt Kinabalu almost 9 years ago.

Thanks for sharing that. Feel better now?

[bendejo]

Another case of Malaysia plagurizing the US: first it was the flag, now they're coming up with stuff like this, worthy of America's religious nuts.

This just in: the 2004 tsunami happened because a pair of teenagers were walking on the beach in Aceh holding hands.

[SABloke]

If only stupidity were an industry listed on the stock exchange - I would bet the bank on it, cause it is clearly on the rise!

Considering the amount of people starting to stray away from 'big religion', I'd say the stupidity stocks are falling

[boomerangutang]

Primitive beliefs are rife - around the world. Old men in Africa believe F@king a virgin without a condom will cure them of AIDS. All Thais believe in ghosts. We're taught to believe that belief in hocus pocus is kinda cute, and won't do any harm. Well, tell that to the kids who are killed each year because they're believed to harbor ill-omens because they're albino or have some other unique physical characteristic.

[sirineou]

Will sacrifices be made to appease the anger of these mountain spirits?

I appreciate that people shouldn't go around upsetting cultural taboos, but the selfies were made in "privacy", i.e. not in the presence of locals. It is hard to take people seriously when they are full blown hypocrites. If they are so concerned with respecting the mountain, maybe the locals should respect its fauna and forest. The lower levels of the mountain have been subject to illegal timber cutting. The animals including snakes and birds and been killed off. When I was in Kota Kinabalu, it was a rather depressing dirty town. Raw sewage poured into the waterways, garbage was everywhere and the last thing on anyone's mind was respect for the local environment. Sarawak is just as bad and the water off Kuching was a dead zone when I was there.

Though they might have done all that to their environment,

in their defense they did it fully clothed.

[LomSak27]

Good God, Euro’s on vacation! Is there anything they won’t screw up or take a giant lump of excrement on? I may think this is relatively meaningless, but it is not my country or more to the point, theirs.

Then we have the obsessive need to film it and post it up in public like mentally deficient players of the beautiful game from Leicester. They are like a walking breathing cluster-pump. Malaysia should just ban them outright from Kota Kinabalu for 5 years. And at that time conduct a review before allowing them on the peak again.