Last night, i watched a special report on NTV7 regarding rape cases in Malaysia. I also remember viewing a statistic for rape cases and it shows that most rapists are malays. Malays are muslims. Islam deffinitely doesnt teach its followers to commit such act. Malays are also known as a polite bunch of ppl. At least, that's what Sir Frank Swettenham wrote in his Malaya journal. And at least, that is the conclusion of my survey among my foreign friends on what they think about Malays. "Malays dont like to get into trouble", one quoted. So, why in that statistic, most sexual offences are committed by this supposedly docile ppl? These rapists dont only rape, but they murdered their victims as well.

A Malay criminologist said in that special report last night, that pornographic materials and illegal apphrodisiacs are to blame for the increase in rape cases. I find this statement as something new. Because I have always been fed by the notion that rape has nothing to do with sex; rape is all about power and domination.

So, is the criminologist wrong? Maybe. But maybe not. Because these rape cases happened in different cultural setting than the western. The notion that sex is about power and domination is made by western criminologists. In western countries, anyone can have sex. As long as they dont do it in public places. Sex is not a taboo in western culture. So, why r they still rape cases in the western countries? Deffinitely not becoz of sex becoz they can get laid pretty easily. That is why rape cases in the western countries r related to power and domination.

The situation is different however, in Malaysia. Malaysia is an eastern country. Sex is very much, still a taboo. Although in certain Asian countries like Japan, they do open up to sex nowadays by having more 'freedom' like the western ppl, but they still keep it very discrete. Malaysia as we know has 3 main races: Malay, Chinese and Indian. Among the 3 races, Malay considers sex as a big taboo compared to the other 2 races, which r getting more liberal sexually nowadays.

And this is when things start to happen. Seeing their other friends of different races having sex with their gfs etc, and supported by pornographic materials widely available in the Internet and through pirated DVDs/CDs, egged on by exposure to western lifestyle through rapid globalization...some malays start to think about sex more frequently. And that is when they try to ask for it from their partners. But some partners dont wanna do it becoz they still hold on to what they believe. The Malays strongly believe that pre-marital sex is a great sin as that's included in their Islamic teaching. Conflict of interest would happen and later would cause the male partner to force sex on his female partner, out of 'excitement' or desperation. Sometimes, the relationship between the rapist and his victim isnt even bf-gf. It could be friendship and even family relationship. This is proven by the statistic that shows 80% of rapists r actually those close with the victims and are no strangers. This also proves that rape cases in malaysia isnt becoz of power and domination. It is becoz of sex itself.

So, can we blame it on lack of religious teaching as well? Well, basically yes. In Islam, those who hv this 'abnormally high sex drive' must get married quickly. This is because Islam realizes that some ppl r just...well...more sexually driven than others. That is why Islam is flexible. However, Malay culture doesnt allow such simplicity. To get married in Malay culture is one big fat hassle. There should be an engagement ceremony and then there would be the wedding ceremony that has sooooo many routines or procedures. I dont really know how to describe a typical malay wedding bcoz it is just complex. I still remember reading a post made in my uni's intranet forum by someone i deem as eccentric and radical. He's a malay. He blames the complexity of malay wedding for abandoned babies cases. His opinion is, it is so hard to get married in Malay culture that no wonder some malays hv sex and then simply abandon their babies in toilets or drains or garbage bins when they get pregnant. And oh, most abandoned babies belong to Malays. Another to blame for this kind of moral decay (pembuangan bayi) is the lack of sex education. Ppl just dont talk about sex openly here. So, thats y got some "eager" teenagers involve into sexual encounter without ever hearing the word 'contraception'.

This is just my opinion. I just present what i know from my analysis and observation. It doesnt represent anything personal.