Malaysia announces funding for counsellors to tackle gay ‘phenomenon’
Mustafa Ali (R), Fadzil Noor (C) and Mahfuz Omar (UPALI ATURUGIRI/AFP/Getty)
Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced funding yesterday to enable counsellors to tackle “sexual orientation disorders like LGBT”.
The politician was speaking at the launch of National Counselling, Education and Career Carnival and Improving Professional Counselling seminar at Universiti Putra Malaysia, The Malaysian Sun Daily records.
Muhyiddin said the funding “includes counselling skills for those faced with sexuality problems which threatens the integrity of the family institution”.
“The symptoms of sexual orientation disorder like LGBT, which was previously faced by the Western society are now faced in our society also.”
He added: “I believe that through an effective counselling approach, we will be able to curb this negative phenomenon from spreading in our community.”
100,000 Malaysian Ringgitt has been set aside for the counselling, equivalent to £20,600.
The funds will be given to the Malaysian International Counselling Association.
Muhyiddin said: “For now it is RM100,000. If it not enough, we can add more later.”
Sodomy is illegal in Malaysia, and the country has already caused anger after it sent “effeminate” boys to a “gay cure” camp in early 2011.
Bernama Online reported that Datuk Baharum Mohamad, a Barisan Nasional MP, told the country’s Parliament that three in ten men in the country were gay.
Baharum said: “We have to find a solution to combat these activities from getting rampant just like the efforts we take to combat drugs.”
