Picture of foreigners walking naked on Mount Kinabalu goes viral on the cyberspace. The picture has been re-posted by Sabah Parks on its official Facebook page, urging the public to respect the sacred mountain. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily

Picture of fully or partially naked tourists on Mount Kinabalu taken by a Sabah tour operator. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily

Sabah Parks has shared on its official Facebook site two online reports dated February and May this year, and suspects the Mount Kinabalu incident has something to do with the recent fad of tourists taking their nude pictures at Angkor Wat and other famous tourist sites. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily

KOTA KINABALU, June 1 (Sin Chew Daily) -- Sabah Parks has decided to ban nudism and other indecent activities when climbing Mount Kinabalu.

When contacted by Sin Chew Daily, Director of Sabah Parks Dr. Jamili Nais emphasized that prior to this, there had been no reports of tourists baring themselves on Mount Kinabalu, and he suspected that what happened here could have something to do with similar incident at Cambodia's Angkor Wat world heritage sites.

Never before

"Western tourists purposely choose to take nude pictures at sacred sites and this seems to have become a fashionable thing nowadays.

"This never happened before on Mount Kinabalu. Who would ever think of taking off his or her clothes given the cold weather up there?"

Dr. Jamili said after this incident, he would propose to add indecent physical exposure to the list of banned behaviors for the state's existing parks. This is to prevent similar incidents from taking place again as Mount Kinabalu is deemed a sacred place by the Sabah indigenous people.

Mount Kinabalu is the first Unesco-designated world natural heritage site for Malaysia. Among the behaviors currently banned at Sabah's parks are hunting and carrying of firearms, pets, disturbing any plant or animal, collecting any plant species, etc. Indecent physical exposure has yet to be included in the list.

Jamili said the Sabah Parks ranger received a notification from a tour guide at Mount Kinabalu on the Gawai Harvest Festival holiday on Sunday, that some ten Western tourists--five male and five female--took their nude photos on Mount Kinabalu.

He said Sabah Parks had decided to lodge a report at the Ranau police station in order to take necessary actions against the tourists involved.

"Although there are no provisions in the Parks Enactment that could render these tourists chargeable, the police could still charge them for indecent behavior in public."

Sacrilegious

Meanwhile, TYK Adventure Tours Sdn Bhd founder Tham Yau Kong also hit out at mountain climbers taking off their clothes on Mount Kinabalu, adding that their act was sacrilegious to the sacred mountain.

A licensed tour guide with more than 25 years of industrial experience, Tham said local villagers treat Mount Kinabalu as a sacred place where their souls would be rested after they pass away.

"Will you take off your clothes and take photo when viewing a museum artifact? Or will you do the same when visiting a friend's house? Why can't these people show some fundamental respect?

"Mount Kinabalu is also known as the Mount of Chinese Widow. So, are you telling me they are going to bare themselves for the widow?"

Tham, who led more than 500 hiking trips during the 1980s and 90s, said there are many taboos one has to observe when climbing Mount Kinabalu.

"Even though we have our own religious beliefs, we all have fear for the sacred mountain and generally tourists will behave themselves when ascending the mountain."

Tham recalled that a car sales manager joining his trip said something like, "We need to leave some food for the 'friend' outside," but because the group later finished the food without leaving any food for the "friend" outside, the manager fell sick.

"It was a really tough job taking care of him (the manager). Even though we seek the forgiveness of the 'friend' outside, it was just too late!"

Taboos

Among some of the taboos a climber must observe when climbing Mount Kinabalu are:

- Never verbally challenge the spirits of the sacred mountain.

- Never remove any stone from the mountain.

- Never pluck any flower or cut any tree there.

- Never scream or yell on the mountain.

- Never say inappropriate things that might offend the spirits.

- Never say offensive things to any animals, insects or plants such as: Why is this tree so ugly?

- The extinguished firewood for cooking must be placed on the rice pot.

- Never wash your feet with the lake water. You must tell the reason for taking the water from the lake.

- Never call out a friend's name when climbing the mountain to watch the sunrise, use "Hey!" or "Hi!" instead to draw the friend's attention.

- Always inform the spirits first before releasing yourself anywhere on the mountain.