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<table class="contentpaneopen"><tbody><tr><td id="content_heading" class="contentheading" width="100%">A tale of horny boatmen targeting women tourists </td> <td rowspan="2" class="buttonheading" align="right" width="100%">
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Monday, 16 August 2010 11:44
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KUALA TERENGGANU -An Italian tourist has sent an email message worldwide claiming that Terengganu boatmen taking visitors to the state's famous Redang and Perhentian (left) islands are taking advantage of women travelling alone.
According to The Star, the writer of the e-mail, purportedly an Italian visitor who used the name HC BOO, sent her message worldwide last month alleging the sexual advances by the boatmen.
Such stories surfaced some years back, sparked by an e-mail that alleged a Japanese tourist was charmed and seduced by a “beach boy” who offered her a drink of mineral water. The state government, however, has pooh-poohed such stories.
This recent email has re-ignited the charges that boatmen carrying visitors to the two islands had outraged the modesty of women tourists and taking advantage after offering them drinks spiked with drugs, according t o The Star.. In the email, the woman warns: “The most important thing is, don’t drink the mineral water and don’t apply the sun block cream given by the boatmen.”
The writer claims she stayed at the islands for two weeks for a research she was doing and had observed “a lot of things done by the local boatmen to the ladies visiting there.” She says the boatmen usually target “dumb Oriental and Western women” but will not touch those who are accompanied by men.
The writer alleges the victims could have been given minyak dagu, or corpse oil, a type of magic spell that makes them lose inhibition and fall into a trance. “I asked one of the victims and she said she didn’t remember anything. But she said she had a dream in which she was fondled by the locals,” HC BOO says in the email.
However, according to The Star, State Tourism, Culture, Arts and Heritage deputy committee chairman Wan Abdul Hakim Wan Mokthar expressed dismay over the e-mail, which he described as “hogwash to disrepute the two popular tourist destinations.” “We have not received any report about foreign ladies being sexually abused at these islands,” he said.
Nevertheless, he added, he will meet the resort operators and the police to get to the bottom of the issue. He said most boatmen plying these islands from the mainland are commissioned by resort operators and they would know if these cases really occurred.
He added that he just had a meeting with state tourism operators and nothing about this was highlighted and no police report had been made. Wan Hakim said the state was willing to investigate if the so-called victims come forward.
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