Kuala Lumpur, June 6 (IANS) Admission by an award-winning teacher that he owes his day-long energy and success to ‘reading and regular sex every night’ has raised hackles in conservative Malaysia.
But his wife supports him saying: ‘He was just being honest.’
Housewife Rosmawati Abdullah, 41, says those who criticize Alias Ismail, 42, are ‘stuck with the old school of thought’, The Star said Sunday.
‘Through reading and having a cordial relationship, we managed to raise our children to be caring and disciplined. What’s wrong if my husband shares his formula with others?’ she asks.
The couple’s eldest son Mohammad Sallehuddin, 24, too supports the father.
He said his father openly discussed matters with them that are considered taboo in other families.
‘He teaches us to be humble while advising us not to indulge in illicit sexual relationships,’ he said.
‘To me, we have the best dad.’
Last Monday, Alias, a Bahasa Malaysia teacher at SMK Menerong, was the inaugural recipient of the state-initiated Tokoh Nilam award to honour an outstanding teacher.
He had then said his secret to remaining active was to read, have an intellectual discussion with his wife and have sex every night.
Alias, who insisted that he was ‘not a hypocrite’ and was encouraging ‘only legitimate sex’, said he was disappointed by certain parties who were attempting to discredit him.
He did not name the critics.
Rosmawati told the newspaper that there was nothing wrong in talking openly about sex between married couples.
‘He is being honest about sex because he is concerned that social ills among students are quite high. It’s important not to have illicit sex. People should scrap the mentality that sex education is taboo,’ said Rosmawati.
A majority of people in multi-racial Malaysia are Malays practicing Islam.