KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian women's rights advocates and university students have banded together in their unified anger towards recent advertisements in the country that tell viewers model Joey Cheah gives sexual favors for money. The ads also put her picture and her phone number on the displays, which rights activist Mariam Chu told Bikyamasr.com should be considered a criminal offense. “This woman is a model, a professional and for the companies to put her phone number on public and tell people she gives sex for money should be a crime and many years in jail.” She said in today's Malaysia, such actions are “despicable” and “should be silenced by government and police action.” For Cheah, life has been a “living hell” since the ads went public. She told a press conference on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur that she receives over 100 calls and text messages daily, with people soliciting sexual services from her. The 26-year-old said the calls and messages started pouring in after “advertisements" bearing her pictures and handphone number were circulated on social networks and Internet blogs early this month. “I get unwanted calls and messages day and night, even in the early hours of the morning. I am emotionally and mentally traumatised," she said during a press conference at the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department office. Cheah, who is from Penang, said one of the advertisements stated that she “likes to have sex with men who pay her good money". “My mother is also very stressed out and worried," said Cheah, who is an only child. She said that she was also afraid that such advertisements would damage her reputation and ruin her modelling career. Although social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter, have removed the advertisements, Cheah and others worry that without punishment, this action could be seen again in the near future. “I am definitely worried about my future,” said 21-year-old Nora Yang, a Kuala Lumpur based aspiring model. “What if I am in the same situation in my career,” she continued to Bikyamasr.com. “The idea that women's bodies are free to use as any company sees fit is disturbing and wrong. We have a lot of problems with sex workers and human trafficking in this country, so for them to use Cheah like this is horrifying for us in the industry.” Cheah said she believed that whoever put up the advertisements, which also contained vulgarities and crude words, had taken her pictures from her Facebook fan page, adding that it could be someone who was “jealous" of her. Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said he would help Cheah obtain legal advice and lodge a police report. “Anyone who sees these advertisements should immediately know that this woman has been framed. “So, please do not call her. We will do everything we can to get to the bottom of the matter and nab the culprit," he said, adding that Cheah's case was the first of its kind this year.
