A Canadian man claiming to be one of a group of international tourists being sought for arrest in Malaysia after stripping on top of “sacred” Mount Kinabalu has responded to accusations by Malaysian politicians on Facebook that he and his peers triggered a deadly earthquake with their insolence. Responding to death threats from Malaysian believers, Emil Kaminski wrote on Facebook, “f*ck your culture.”
Kaminski’s post shows a group of young men with their backs to the camera in briefs at the summit of the mountain. The post, which appeared on his Facebook after politicians assured concerned locals that they would arrest the men for having triggered an earthquake with their alleged nudity, dismissed the attacks as “not based in logic, but superstition. I utterly do not care for superstition.”
Malaysia’s The Star notes that, amid the thousands of comments on the post, Kaminski himself replied that “If local religion prohibits certain actions, then local believers of that religion should not engage in it, but they cannot expect everyone to obey their archaic and idiotic rules.” To one person calling for Kaminski to respect Malaysia’s culture, he replied, “fuck your culture.”
In another post, Kaminski posted photos of himself from the back nude at other mountaintops, joking, “Well, apparently I am responsible for the 2015 Nepal quake, and whatever incoming quakes in Canada (as well as Thailand, India, China, Taiwan, Hongkong, and a variety of other countries…).”
The Star does not relay the violent and racist responses to his post on Facebook. In one of the more tame responses, one user wrote, “I wish I could mutilate all of you.” Another writes, “Fuck you whiteman!! See, what the fucking monkey you are done!!!!! No manners primitive!” The more violent posts called for the men’s genitals to be removed: “You motherfucker whitetrash coke of a cunt!! The whole entire Malaysia is looking for your blondie pubes bitchass!! We will fucking chop off your dickhead!! PIG!”
11 people recently died as a result of an earthquake near Mount Kinabalu, with the most recent death toll being announced on Saturday. Politicians have accused the naked men of triggering the wrath of the spirits they believe live on the mountain. “Whether other people believe this or not, it’s what we Sabahans believe. When the earthquake happened, it’s like a confirmation of our beliefs,” Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan said at a press conference. “It is a sacred mountain and you cannot take it lightly,” he concluded, asserting that “there is almost certainly a connection” between the earthquake and the male nudity.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun agreed, vowing that Malaysia would “kick them out and ban them” from the region and that local religious officials were preparing a ceremony “to appease the spirits as soon as possible.”
For that remark, Kaminski called Masidi an “idiot” and “dildo” on his Twitter page. Masidi responded, stating, “it takes a monkey to call another person a monkey.” Kaminski’s travel blog is called Monkeetime Video. While much of his account is dedicated to his travel exploits, it also boasts an aggressively anti-religion– particularly anti-Islamic– stance, including a post comparing Islam to Nazism and one using the hashtag #F*ckthePope. He appears to be a staunch supporter of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
As a result of Kaminski’s antics, climbing has been suspended on the mountain, where travel guides claimed the visitors also “urinated in improper places.”