Kuala Lumpur (TAN): Malaysia’s tourism ministry has issued clarifying statements after the country’s tourism minister appeared to evade a question when asked on Malaysia’s policies on homosexual tourists.
“Homosexuality? I don’t think we have anything like that in our country,” media reports quoted the Malaysian minister Mohamaddin Ketapi as saying in Berlin.
“I cannot answer whether it is safe or not,” he had added in reply to a question.
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The Malaysian tourism ministry, later, issued a statement clarifying that Ketapi had meant the country neither has nor intends to carry out LGBTQ-specific tourism campaigns.
The statement, according to The Straits Times, said: “As a main tourism destination in Asia, Malaysia has never and will not do anything to stop our guests based on their sexual orientation, religion and cultural belief.”
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The ministry said Malaysia had its stand on LGBTQ and other global issues. It also intended to protect its tourist attractions from human degradation, increase respect for local values, its wildlife and environment.
“These laws must be respected and followed, not just by foreign tourists but Malaysians as well,” the statement added.
An aide of the minister, in a statement to Malaysian online news site Malaysiakini, said: “Tourists coming to Malaysia like any other country are welcome regardless of their creed, sexuality, religion or colour.”
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Malaysia’s Opposition party leader Mah Hang Soon criticised the minister’s comments in Berlin.
“All he needed to say was that Malaysia is a safe country and every tourist is safe here. Instead, he made this outlandish remark that homosexuality does not exist in Malaysia,” media reports quoted a statement by Soon, who said Ketapi had made Malaysia a laughing stock.
