They will 'snoop but not peep'

They are not "Peeping Toms", Terengganu Islam Hadhari and Welfare Committee chairman Datuk Rosol Wahid explained yesterday.

"They won’t be hiding behind trees with binoculars. They will be looking for couples out in the open, such as the park. If they happen to see suspicious behaviour, they will report straight to the state Islamic affairs body (JHEAT). That’s all. They are not going to counsel couples. We’ll leave that to the parents."

Rosol said this when asked to comment on reports that Terengganu had set up a squad to snoop on Muslim couples who make out.

He said the state would hire volunteers as informants to spy on "suspicious behaviour". They will be based in hotels in Terengganu to spy on those suspected of vice.

"The volunteers will inform JHEAT of suspicious behaviour. It will be up to them (JHEAT) to take action."

Rosol said volunteers applying for the job would be selected by JHEAT based on their religious standing and "good personal background". He did not elaborate on what "good personal background" meant.

He claimed that such a method was practised before Pas came to power in Terengganu (1999-2004).

The last time a similar group of volunteers existed in Selangor, some of them allegedly began to extort couples.

Last year, the Cabinet had to step in to stop a Putrajaya Muslim volunteer group from forming a moral police team to snoop on couples suspected of committing khalwat (close proximity).

In March 2005, the Cabinet directed Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ali Rustam, who is also the national 4B Youth movement president, to disband the Mat Skodeng squad meant to snoop on couples and look into other vice activities.

Recently, video clips of couples being caught for khalwat were uploaded on the Internet.

Early last year, the hotel room of an elderly non-Muslim American couple was raided by religious officers for allegedly committing khalwat.

Such embarrassing situations had prompted Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin to call for a stop against spying on couples.

The Perlis government plans to amend its religious law to prevent officers from spying on couples, although the law against khalwat will remain.



From American Heritage® Dictionary


Definition of snoop

To pry into the private affairs of others, especially by prowling about.


Definition of prowl

To roam through stealthily, as in search of prey or plunder: prowled the alleys of the city after dark.


Definition of stealthy

Marked by or acting with quiet, caution, and secrecy intended to avoid notice.


The act of spying and snooping can themselves be considered indecent. This is encouraging voyeurism and is a violation of one's human rights, such squads are an invasion of privacy !!

Exposed to blackmail
Paying a heavy price for that intimate pose

It would have been an intimate moment at the insistence of a lover or husband. And the woman would have bared all — only for his eyes, and the camera or video lens.

But the moment of truth came sometime later, when the relationship soured and the visuals were used in emotional blackmail.

In some cases, the woman becomes the victim of someone out to make a quick buck at the expense of her modesty.

There have also been cases of people taking photographs of women in the nude in places like changing rooms and then blackmailing them into parting with their money.

The age of the Internet has compounded matters: Some, out of spite, have posted nude photographs of their former wives or girlfriends on websites.

More Malaysians are finding themselves being blackmailed emotionally or for money by boyfriends or husbands who caught them on film or video in their most vulnerable moments.

Especially so with the easy availability of camera phones, video cams and other gadgets.

The Women’s Aid Organisation receives an average of 10 to 15 calls a year from women blackmailed by boyfriends or husbands using intimate pictures.

For women caught in an emotional tug of war where intimate pictures are involved, there is very little they can do besides suing the person responsible in a civil court.

Excerpt from NST 21 Feb 2007