GEORGE TOWN (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The organiser of the so-called "Penang Nude Sports Games 2014" which raised a nationwide storm recently, claimed the participants were living in fear after a five-minute video of the event at Teluk Kampi surfaced on the Internet.
Mr Albert Yam Kam Hoong, a 46-year-old Malaysian who is a permanent resident in Singapore and the videographer of the event, said that with the police hot on their heels, they lived in fear every day "like criminals".
"The immense pressure led to sleepless nights. We were filled with sadness and fear and we avoided everyone.
"We have to thank one of our friends for making the first move to surrender.
"Without him doing it, I don't think any of us would dare surrender," he said, adding that they had a talk before deciding to surrender together.
Mr Yam turned himself in at the district police headquarters in Balik Pulau on Saturday evening.
He had also sent an e-mail to a vernacular daily to offer their apologies to the Penang state government.
The mail read: "We are sorry to have held a naturist event in Penang, which created a storm in the whole Malaysia. We won't do it again and please accept our deepest apologies for our misconduct at Teluk Kampi, which created embarrassment for the country.
"We have much esteem for the law in Malaysia," the email said.
Yam also sent e-mails to 13 participants of the nude games to offer his apologies.
He claimed that his Vimeo account, the video-sharing website from where the video was uploaded, was hacked and shared widely without his knowledge, causing unnecessary attention and trouble.
He threatened to take legal action against those uploading the video on other video-sharing websites for copyright infringement.
In Butterworth, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the organiser must also apologise to the Penang National Park as the event took place there.
"Even though they had apologised, they have to face the music as this sort of behaviour is not acceptable in Malaysia," Mr Lim said on Sunday.
