Malaysian police have arrested the founder of a “sugar daddy” dating Web site under anti-prostitution laws after it boasted that thousands of young students were using the service, officials said yesterday.
The Web site bills itself as a place “where romance meets finance” and it aims to link up older men with younger women, with the men expected to provide financial support for their companions.
However, it sparked an uproar last week after releasing statistics purportedly showing that thousands of students were using it to make money, leading one university to condemn the claims.
Police said they had arrested the 34-year-old founder of the site at a Kuala Lumpur condominium and that he would appear in court.
Officials have launched an investigation under legislation aimed at combating prostitution — which is illegal in Malaysia — and misusing the Internet.
They did not name him, but he is believed to be Darren Chan (曾佑文), whose social media profile describes him as the founder and chief executive officer of the Web site.
Regulators had warned against using the site, with local media reporting that it had been blocked, although it could still be accessed via some Internet providers in Malaysia.
Chan released a statement saying that he believed “our Malaysian government knows what’s best for the people.”
However, he said that the site was taking “measures to ensure the ban does not happen in other countries.”
The site says it has expanded to countries including Singapore, Thailand and the US.
Three years after a deadly virus struck India’s endangered Asiatic lions in their last remaining natural habitat, conservationists are hunting for new homes to help booming prides roam free. The majestic big cats, slightly smaller than their African cousins and with a fold of skin along their bellies, were once found widely across southwest Asia. Hunting and human encroachment saw the population plunge to just 20 by 1913, and the lions are now found only in a wildlife sanctuary in India’s western Gujarat State. Following years of concerted government efforts, the lion population in Gir National Park has swelled to nearly 700, according
A rogue overgrown sheep found roaming through regional Australia has been shorn of his 35kg fleece — a weight even greater than that of the famous New Zealand sheep Shrek, who was captured in 2005 after six years on the loose. The merino ram, dubbed Baarack by rescuers, was discovered wandering alone with an extraordinarily overgrown wool coat, and was promptly shorn to save his life. Kyle Behrend, from the Edgar’s Mission farm sanctuary, said that it appeared Baarack was “once an owned sheep” who had escaped. Merino sheep do not shed their fleece and need to be shorn at least annually, as
DMZ SWIM: Over more than three hours, South Korean surveillance cameras caught him eight times and audible alarms sounded twice, but border guards did not notice A North Korean defector wore a diving suit and fins during a daring six-hour swim around one of the world’s most fortified borders and was only caught after apparently falling asleep, a Seoul official said. South Korean forces did not spot the man’s audacious exploit, despite his appearance several times on surveillance cameras after he landed and triggered alarms, drawing heavy criticism from media and opposition lawmakers. Even after his presence was noticed, the man — who used diving gear to make his way by sea around the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the Korean Peninsula — was not caught for another
‘GRAVE CONCERN’: A critic of the government died immediately following his complaints of torture at the hands of security forces, a human rights group said Students on Friday clashed with police in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, as anger mounted at the death of a writer and government critic in a high-security jail. At least 18 police and an unknown number of protesters were injured in the clashes, authorities and witnesses said, amid international demands for an independent investigation into the death of Mushtaq Ahmed. An Agence France-Presse correspondent witnessed police using batons and firing tear gas at students who staged a torchlight march calling for “justice” near the University of Dhaka. At least six students who allegedly attacked security forces with torches were detained, police said. More protests were planned
RSS