Malaysia Condemns Kuala Lumpur’s Tattoo Exhibition as ‘Porn’, Vows to Take Legal Action

A tattoo exhibition that was held in Malaysia’s capital from the 29th of November to the 1st of December not only attracted a large number of heavily-inked participants from all over the world, but also caused a public outcry from authorities.

Malaysian officials have ordered a probe into a 3-day tattoo exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, slamming it as “porn” unsuitable for “polite and decent” Southeast Asian culture, according to remarks from Tourism Art and Culture Minister Mohammadin Ketapi, cited by AFP.

The “Tattoo Malaysia Expo”, that was held in Kuala Lumpur from 29th November until 1st December, was initially approved by the Ministry of Tourism, but after pictures from the show featuring half-dressed inked participants went viral, authorities changed their stance.

“It is impossible for the ministry to approve of any programme that contains porn such as this”, Tourism official Mohammadin Ketapi said, adding that the Ministry did not okay “half-naked parades”.

The official argued that the event did not represent Malaysian culture, where 60 percent of the 32 million population is Muslims, and pledged to take legal action against the exhibition’s organisers.

“This is not Malaysian culture, the majority of the population are Muslims”, the official added.

The Expo was held in Kuala Lumpur for the first time as a part of the Sabah International Tattoo Convention, featuring artists from all over the world, including Malaysia, Mexico, Japan, and Switzerland.