Alvin Tan (blogger)

Alvin Tan Jye Yee (Chinese: 陳杰毅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tân Kia̍t-gē) is a Malaysian pornographic film performer. He gained prominence for a blog publicising his sexual activities with his girlfriend, and later became controversial for his criticism of Islam, leading him to flee Malaysia and seek political asylum in the United States. He calls himself a "free speech activist".[1]

Alvin Tan
Born
陈杰毅

(1988-12-20) December 20, 1988
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
NationalityMalaysian
Occupation(s)Blogger, pornographic film actor

Online activities

Tan, a Malaysian of Chinese descent, was studying law overseas at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in Singapore. He uploaded videos to his public blog of himself having sex with his ex-girlfriend Vivian Lee, while inviting others to join in.[2] The opposition to these videos led to Tan being stripped of his ASEAN scholarship for the university, and he returned to Malaysia.[3] Pressured by their families, the couple shut down their blog.[4]

He is a critic of Islam, comparing it to Nazism, and has called for a "separation of mosque and state".[5] Tan and his girlfriend posed for a photograph while eating pork and uploaded it to Facebook as a Ramadan greeting, which led to them being put on trial for sedition.[3] They pleaded not guilty, but were jailed without bail until the conclusion of the trial.[4]

While Lee remained in Malaysia to face trial, Tan left Malaysia for California, U.S., and continues to post content critical of Islam, including a video of him reciting the Muslim call to prayer bare-chested. In November 2015, Tan again caused controversy when he uploaded onto Facebook a comic strip of photographs of himself defecating, and then wiping his anus with a page from the Quran, the Islamic holy book. He took a picture of his faeces in that comic strip. He stated in his comments on the post that any abuse he received for the act would only bolster his opinion that Islam is violent.[6]

Criticism

During Tan and Lee's trial, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said that "The insolent and impudent act by the young couple who insulted Islam showed that freedom of expression and irresponsible opinion can jeopardise the community".[4]

Tan has a following of 85,000 on Facebook as of November 2015,[6] including some Muslims.[5] However, he has also been criticised for bringing bad publicity to other members of the nation's ethnic Chinese community.[5] During his trial, Malaysia's Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail said that Tan's Ramadan photograph was likely to be the motive to a religiously-aggravated assault on a Chinese man.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Bigot, troublemaker, agent provocateur? Gobind Singh prefers 'free speech activist'". The Malay Mail. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  2. Ng, Scott (10 December 2014). "The paradox that is Alvin Tan". Free Malaysia Today. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  3. Hafiz, Yasmine (18 July 2013). "Alvin And Vivian Jailed: Malaysian Sex Bloggers Charged With Sedition For Inciting Religious Enmity With Ramadan Image". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  4. "Malaysian sex bloggers charged with sedition for eating pork during Ramadan". Global Post. Agence France-Presse. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  5. "Troll or hero? The sex blogger who's offending Muslims". BBC News. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  6. Khoo, Jean (12 November 2015). "Alvin Tan's Latest Outrageous Act With The Al-Qur'an Receives Brutal Flak From Netizens". Vulcan Post. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
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