The Tourism and Culture Ministry has urged the authorities to take stern action a motivational programme including nude activities at a resort in Bentong, Pahang yesterday.

Its minister, Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, said the motivational module should not have been created as it tainted the national culture and went against the customs and behaviour of the Malaysian people.

"I feel they are sick in the head. We were angry at the foreign tourists who came to our country such as the incident that occurred on the South Peak of Mount Kinabalu, Sabah two years ago. Now, our own people are doing this indecent act.

"This is not our culture.This is madness. If we want to ape the Western culture, look for something reasonable... this is not our civilisation. On the contrary, it is returning to the stone age culture," he said.

Yesterday, police detained 39 male participants aged between 19 and 23 for allegedly committing obscene acts in a public place by removing all their clothes when participating in a motivational programme at a resort centre in Bentong, at midnight.

Previously, on May 30, 2015, a group of foreign tourists removed their clothes when they arrived at the peak of Mount Kinabalu, which is the highest in South-East Asia.

In June the same year, the four were sentenced to three days jail each and fined RM5,000 in default three months jail by the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court over the obscene act.

- Bernama