Dr Mahathir's and Islamic initiatives to curb the bad influences of Bollywood movies and certain negative Western pop music deserve support. Detractors may jump up and down in protest but the government's action is for everyone's good.

There is a heap of anecdotal evidence to warrant a clamp down on the negative influences of undesirable foreign media entertainment. Some of them are simply too sexy and decadent for a generally decent society like Malaysia's.

Recently, I read a report on the findings of a survey that revealed Asian girls are less reserved about casual sex these days. The moral slide that began in the West has finally caught up in the East and even a conservative country like India is feeling the heat.

Hindu men and women were reportedly seen going around town tearing down cinema posters and wrecking cinemas that showed decadent movies and undermined the country's moral values. Not long ago even kissing on the big screen was still taboo but Bollywood is changing the rules and testing the limits of public decency.

In 1976 Japan shocked the world and the Japanese themselves with an avant-garde movie, In The Realm Of the Senses , which portrayed graphic sex scenes. While Japan's traditional culture reflects a nation of virtues, it's seedy side e.g. pornography on cable TV, brothels etc. betray the susceptibility of its citizens to base desires.

A report stated some young Japanese women now find it pass to have sexual encounters with Western men. Asians can no longer claim innocence when Thailand is still a center for sex tours. Asian modesty and chastity have taken a bash when our women are blas about sex.

A young Malaysian singer unashamedly revealed her fantasy to have sex with five men simultaneously. And a Singaporean porn actress had sex with 251 men in a ten-hour saga. What has happened to Asian Values or Asian Virtues?

Sex temptations

It is not hard to pinpoint the causes of their decline and if I had to single out one obvious culprit I would point my finger at the media. All you have to do is to watch the movies of yesteryears and listen to the pop music of the past and compare them with today's.

Even in the Age of Aquarius where free love was pushed in the counter culture of a rebellious West in the 60's, Malaysian youths were marginally touched and the suggestive songs of the naughty Rolling Stones 'Let's Spend the Night Together and 'I Can't Get No Satisfaction' were tame compared to today's sexually explicit lyrics and sensual pop videos.

When the senses of youths and adults are constantly barraged with stimulating sexy images and sounds what chances have they of overcoming temptations?

Today's movies and television shows are filled with profanity, sexual references, nudity and sex scenes. I read a report on the Berlin Film Festival that showed films not of simulated sex but actual sex. Soon pornography will be pushed by Hollywood as mainstream.

We have already seen how Walt Disney has loosened its moral grip and even children's cartoons are not safe from sexual innuendos and sexy images. Many Americans now boycott Walt Disney.

Prosperity and the influx of Western popular culture into Asia created imitations. Hong Kong movie producers aped Hollywood and became Hollywood East. Cantonese youth lost their innocence and imitated the West indirectly via their Hong Kong movie and pop idols. Soon Asian attitudes toward sex changed as television shows from the West became bolder and more explicit about sex.

While the local censors cut steamy scenes from a film, the damage was done. The power of imagination did the rest and Asian modesty and moral standards dropped. Those who had lived overseas brought back with them liberal ideas and values. As the world became a global village, the West exported its decadent culture to various parts of the world and Asia learned to produce its own.

Abortion, incest increase

That does not mean Westerners are more decadent than Asians. But the Western entertainment industry broke social taboos and ushered in their brand of morality that really was decadent. Hollywood is not known for its scruples. Movie and pop stars became the icons of rebellion and loose living and soon the true believers all over the world imitated their idols.

Asia lapped up what was placed on their laps. Technology and greed combined to exploit sex and people's vulnerability. Western media pioneered the spread of today's decadent popular culture and continues to be its strongest purveyor.

It makes sense for the government to stem the moral slide. The power of technology and sex combined unless used for good can be very destructive. Promiscuity inevitably leads to unwanted pregnancies that end in abortions in many cases. Sexually transmitted diseases spread rapidly through promiscuity. The social costs to society are enormous both in terms of human lives and money.

It costs the Australian taxpayers millions to kill 100,000 unwanted babies every year. Divorces caused by infidelity and single parent families are creating a breed of new poor in Western countries. Incest will occur in future because some kids will unknowingly marry their half-brothers or half-sisters because they don't know who their biological fathers are.

What couples do in their bedrooms is their business. But what television stations show to the public is everyone's business. Malaysians can thank the authorities for not having to watch sexually explicit material on television as in the West. Sometimes these clips come on during the commercial breaks when people watch the evening news.

Young children are unfairly exposed to erotic images. Not everyone who hates watching sexy images in the media is a prude; many find it annoying and don't like the exploitation of women.

Immoral advertising

Jesus, who was admired by the Prophet Mohamed said, "Temptation to do wrong is unavoidable, but woe to the one who does the tempting."

People learn bad behaviour from the media and friends. As the saying goes, "Bad company corrupts good character." Keeping company with a technology that promotes filth and immoral behaviour is equally bad.

If people tell me they are not affected by what they watch on television or their PC's or by what they read in magazines then I suppose the advertising industry might as well close down. Advertisers and media producers know the power of sex in the media.

Sex sells products but not in our household. When Mcdonalds in Australia showed a sexy advertisement unsuitable for its image of a family restaurant some years ago we complained. They said we were in the minority so we boycotted McDonalds. They lost several thousand dollars from our household alone.

Muslims and others who are offended by sexual advertisements should boycott those products and companies that use sexy advertisements. We should not only rely on the government to do something if we can all exercise our consumer right to withhold custom from unethical and immoral advertising.

Floodgates of evil

Sex is a God-given gift to us. Let us protect it from those who abuse it for material gain. The government and people are right in stopping the flow of bad influences in the media from flooding the country. The sale of pornographic videos and CDs is another area of concern.

Much more should be done to warn parents and others of the danger of pornography in the Internet. Many people, including young children, are now addicted to pornography. We do not want technology to be a weapon of mass destruction of the community's morals, especially the young and unmarried who are more susceptible to unhealthy influences.

We should not open the floodgates of evil into our society. Even a liberal Western country like Australia has placed limits to curb the inflow of pornography in the Internet. Until self-control is a virtue of most Malaysians, government control is a wise option. Prevention is always better than cure.

STEVE OH is an expatriate Malaysian in Perth. A chartered accountant by training, he has held senior financial and management positions in international companies and now runs his private business. Oh wants to promote positive values in Malaysia and is the author of a soon-to-be published novel and composer of a musical which he hopes will also raise funds to help the poor, protect our world's dwindling rainforests and attract tourists to the country.