Malaysian government leaders have rebuked a local newspaper for publishing a frank expose of sexual attitudes among the country's youth.
The Weekend Mail gave detailed descriptions of favorite sex positions from its survey -- including "spooning, galloping and tea bag positions" -- in three pages of stories that delivered on its front-page promise: "You'll be shocked."
"I received endless calls and SMS over the articles," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told a ruling-party meeting Sunday.
"The media going overboard in exploiting sex will only worsen our social problems," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times, a pro-government daily in the same stable as the Mail.
"The feature spoke of this and that position -- and I am not talking about positions during a football game or the Middle East position," he quipped.
The minister for women, family and community development called the feature irresponsible and "downright vulgar."
The New Straits Times Press Bhd, which prints the Weekend Mail and The Malay Mail daily, apologized unreservedly for the stories and said it would question the editors.
"The articles were offensive and distasteful," the publisher's chief executive, Syed Faisal Albar, said in the apology displayed on the front page of The Malay Mail on Monday.
Mainstream media outlets, many of them controlled or partly owned by ruling-coalition interests, have traditionally followed a conservative moral line in this mainly Muslim nation.
They remain pro-government in reporting political issues, but have begun to experiment with more tabloid-style reporting since Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi came to power three years ago and encouraged more lively debate on non-political issues.
After its romp through free speech, which would also have landed mainstream Western media in trouble, The Weekend Mail said its survey respondents only held one position in common: "One point everyone agreed on was that sex and sex-related issues should be discussed openly to avoid any negative perceptions."
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The Weekend Mail gave detailed descriptions of favorite sex positions from its survey -- including "spooning, galloping and tea bag positions" -- in three pages of stories that delivered on its front-page promise: "You'll be shocked."
"I received endless calls and SMS over the articles," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told a ruling-party meeting Sunday.
"The media going overboard in exploiting sex will only worsen our social problems," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times, a pro-government daily in the same stable as the Mail.
"The feature spoke of this and that position -- and I am not talking about positions during a football game or the Middle East position," he quipped.
The minister for women, family and community development called the feature irresponsible and "downright vulgar."
The New Straits Times Press Bhd, which prints the Weekend Mail and The Malay Mail daily, apologized unreservedly for the stories and said it would question the editors.
"The articles were offensive and distasteful," the publisher's chief executive, Syed Faisal Albar, said in the apology displayed on the front page of The Malay Mail on Monday.
Mainstream media outlets, many of them controlled or partly owned by ruling-coalition interests, have traditionally followed a conservative moral line in this mainly Muslim nation.
They remain pro-government in reporting political issues, but have begun to experiment with more tabloid-style reporting since Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi came to power three years ago and encouraged more lively debate on non-political issues.
After its romp through free speech, which would also have landed mainstream Western media in trouble, The Weekend Mail said its survey respondents only held one position in common: "One point everyone agreed on was that sex and sex-related issues should be discussed openly to avoid any negative perceptions."
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