COMMENT | Some 12 years ago, I befriended a Malay Muslim man by the name of Syed. He was in his mid-60s and was happily married with seven children and a few grandkids.

Our friendship began in the commentary sections of social media and quickly became very close.

As a businessman, Syed travelled to Kuala Lumpur quite often. Whenever he was in the city, he’d call and we’d plan a meeting to catch up on things. And when he returned home to Terengganu, we used to indulge in long conversations over the phone.

I took a liking to Syed because he was very humble, genuine and open. I enjoyed our talks about Malaysian politics, social issues and life in general.

He was very truthful about his marital dilemma right from the beginning of our friendship. His wife, according to him, is a wonderful woman, but due to her illnesses, she was not capable of fulfilling his sexual needs.

In the beginning, I was not too comfortable with him sharing his marital affairs with me. At the time I had just been through a divorce and I was quite aware of the societal stereotypes on divorced women (or ‘janda’ in Malay).

However, I felt sorry for Syed, so I continued...