Naked Tourists Caused Deadly Earthquake In Borneo

"Tell me, would you like to see this man charged for gross indecency?" Yes. That's not the issue. The issue would be some idiot politician blaming him and his act for a NATURAL disaster. "Do you think someone on capital hill will come down and make some political gain out of the situation?" That's what politicians do. That's not the issue, either. The issue would a politician blaming a HUMAN for a NATURAL disaster. "Would you be as outraged if this was done by your fellow American, local to DC, someone who got drunk…?" Yes. Occasionally some moronic Americans do things like this to American monuments. And they are mostly ripped for it, as they should be. "Many people in Asia have not forgotten the humiliation, insults and cultural genocide that they suffered when their countries were “colonized” (or should we call a spade a spade and use the proper word: “invaded”) by the white men." That does not excuse a moronic political hack from blaming HUMANS for causing a NATURAL disaster.

I'm a Malaysian and just came back from a hiking trip in Sabah week ago. The earthquake hit Sabah on Friday, 5th June 7.15am; I was there climbing, in fact, near the peak on the same date and time just one week before. That said, I'm very lucky and grateful. I'm deeply saddened by what happened. Travis and the rest, thank you for being a culturally sensitive traveler and show a lot of respect for the local customs. I really appreciate that. :) Regarding the climbing, it's actually not that difficult as you think, really. It's not easy but with a little bit of training before the trip, you're going to be fine. I'm nowhere near to "fit" either. Welcome to Malaysia and I hope you'll have chance to visit Mt. Kinabalu in the future. Regarding the naked tourists, yes it's off to do that in Malaysia or any Muslim country, let alone a place like Mt. Kinabalu. But blaming them for causing the earthquake? That's too silly. :)

On a lighter note to what I said above, if you do not commit any atrocious act, you will be treated like a king, as if you are somehow way superior compared to local men, by the local women... simply by virtue of the "status" held by your grandpa and his generation, when they lorded over the locals <100 years ago. Visit the local clubs and you will be amazed how many women want to have sex with you - for free - thanks to your grandpa and his buddies. Singapore is a good place to start and many expat men wrote about that on many online forums, and can vouch for it.

So, you have the Ground Zero Memorial in New York, and on it is your father's name. Today, some Arab muslim from Afghanistan flew 10,000+ miles to New York, and the first thing he did on "trekking" to that memorial was to go naked, showed his butt to those names, and then peed on your father's name - a deliberate act that he did despite his tour guide pleading with him to cover up. Tell me, would you like to see this man charged for gross indecency? Do you think someone on capital hill will come down and make some political gain out of the situation? Would you be as outraged if this was done by your fellow American, local to DC, someone who got drunk...? Many people in Asia have not forgotten the humiliation, insults and cultural genocide that they suffered when their countries were "colonized" (or should we call a spade a spade and use the proper word: "invaded") by the white men. Actions of cultural insentivity by descendants of these white men (or as the local call it: "red hair devils") are viewed much more harshly. You can call it racism, but many Americans would behave like that too, in the ground zero memorial analogy I gave above. So, yes, please show some cultural sensitivity when visiting the sacred burial ground (or resting place of departed spirits of family members, in this case) or graves of dead American veterans (Arlington war cemetry?) - especially if your grandpa (or his generation) has killed and lorded over the grandpas of the current local generation! A good start would be to recognize that the Ground Zero Memorial is not just some concrete or building material to the Americans - it holds great symbolism to Americans. Similarly, Mount Kinabalu is not just a mountain to the locals - it has great symbolism: the resting place of spirits of family members. Another good start would be to read up, prior to the trip, what your grandpa's generation did to that country and then bear in mind that because of that, you will be held to a higher standard (or prejudice, or racism) due to the "sins" / war atrocities ("colonization" is an euphemism) committed by your grandpa and his pal.

Tourists misbehaving is nothing new.. And these Canadians/Europeans obviously disregard local culture as much as the previous Chinese tourist scandals did. Guess bad behavior is truly universal. And if they broke local law, be it gross indecency or vandalism, they do deserve their legal punishment. With no whinging of whether or not it'll be acceptable "back home".