IamA American guy who spent 1 month in a Malaysian Prison. Real life "Locked up Abroad" here. Ask me anything!

How did you get out? Also how were the conditions in the jail?

The conditions... Oh man! Were they fucked up... When there are people from Nigeria and Pakistan complaining about human rights abuses, you know it's bad.

50 people per cell, just 1 blanket, crackers for breakfast, with porridge, and tea on occasion, or hot water. sardines and rice for lunch and dinner, with some greens, and a bread roll, a piece of chicken to replace the sardines if you are lucky.. There is no "yard." you are locked down in your cell - always.

Also, don't get sick in there. There is no medicine.

Also... Shit overflew out of the toilets...

Just wanna say as a person who lives in a country near Malaysia, (the Philippines) never ever do anything that will send you to prison in a 3rd world country.

I always see these documentaries on the Discovery Channel/NatGeo about American prisons and how its supposed to be really terrible there but they look like fucking 5-star hotels compared to what we have. The food looks practically like gourmet dining while here, you might end up with nothing but broth if you're not fast enough to get in line.

I was thinking the same thing.. I was like man... What I would give to be locked up in the LA county jail instead.

The Philippines would be better too, though.. At least you would get food.

How did you get out of prison?

I paid the police fine of 3000.00.

See, you can plead not guilty, but they will send you back to prison again to await for a further trial or whatever... So everyone just pleads guilty and pays the fine.

Sounds like a party.

It wasn't.

How much was your partner supposed to give you?

Either a contact for half of the business, which was 6 months overdue, or 6 months back pay, which was just 1k a month. Not much. We were still small, but started to get busy... The thing she didn't realize though, is that we were starting to get busy because of me... Not her.

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Yea, one thing that she was too stupid to realize was that if I left, all of my students would leave too... Which they did.. I sent them all to another jiujitsu school, which belonged to a friend after I left.

The business then closed down, after she tried to keep it open with Malay "Muay Thai" instructors for a few more months.

MMA/BJJ school? Either way, did you need your skills inside?

Naw, no one messes with you.

But after I got out, sleeping on the hard wood floor, and the really shitty food really took it's toll on my physical health, and it took a few months to recover... I am still recovering from it actually.

Wow, hope her business went down the drain after what she did to you.

I hope she went down the drain.

It did. She's done.

It doesn't make sense to me either.. Our business was doing fine how it was going.

What were some of the most corrupt things you saw any of the staff or guards do in the prison?

Being caught with 1 kilo of drugs including marijuana in Malaysia is an automatic death sentence and if you have less than that on yourself you don't get much better than a hanging... It ranges from 10, 20, 30 years, and life.

With that being said... ALL of the guards were selling drugs to the inmates.

My country is so f*cked up. I hate the police here. It's all about bribery and such. I'm not being racist but it's always the Malay police that're out and about doing these blatant acts. Correct me if I'm wrong, were there any Chinese guards there? I've never seen any Chinese police here before, all of them are usually the high ranked ones. But that being said they are the ones capable of large amounts of bribery since they're more powerful.

Every single one of the guards were Malay.

My uncle is a policeman. They're not all bad. He always told me of young Malay and Indian policemen who are corrupted as fuck and beat up inmates when the mood hits them. He doesn't allow any of that shit in his unit. He's was a DSP of the Marine Police in Lumut, Perak, so he rounds up a lot of illegal immigrants who comes by boat. Once he caught two of his men beating an Indonesian immigrant, he allowed those Indonesian men to beat the policeman back. He didn't report to his superiors because he knew they won't do shit. He's Malay and his superiors are mostly Malay and Chinese. You don't see low-level Chinese policemen, they're mostly at the top and these ppl (Malay and Chinese) deal with the most bribery and corruption.

Yup. Not all of them are bad. I know a few of them that have big hearts.

Just most of them are bad.

How were the inmates paying for the drugs?

From friends and family on the outside. Many of which they lied to about what the money was for.

No idea. Wasn't my thing. I just saw that they were getting it, and the guards were passing it to them.

Hey I'm a Malaysian and thanks for sharing this, i think it my country deserves more international recognition, or at least somewhere like reddit just exactly how effin BAD the police and justice system is. I have fair stints of encounter with them, being harass constanstly and needing to bribe my way out. The sad thing about this country is that the reputation of the police are so low, no average or decent people ever join the police force, most of this people are hired from low life rural areas, they lack education, when given the power, they abuse their force and take corruption, by necessity and lack of decency, because their pay is way lower than the average malaysian. You will usually be stigmatised in this country if you wish to join the civil service, especially when it comes to enforcement, because the reputation involved with the arms forces are so bad. No half educated people will join the police force and this is the result you see. A little light to see is that we are going through a general election! and the new goverment promises a transparent and clean governance, and hopefully they give a little shit more than the current goverment that is what i have to say

Yea, it's bad, it all consist of the police holding people with no proof and basically holding them hostage.

Malaysia truly Asia, it's the place with it all...

Yea. I know the ad campaign, it's like they are pointing out.. Hey! We are in Asia too!

There ad campaigns are the most bullshit ever. Most of my family has already left Malaysia because of the politics. They are so racist against the Chinese there. No jobs, and most foreign corporations have already left for China.

I know. It's disgusting how they treat Chinese, whom are their own citizens in Malaysia.

We have this New Economic Policy, which favors the malays and the indigenous races more than the chinese, indians, and others.

All this stems from the fact that we used to be colonised by the British via the East India company and others. To work the tin mines, lots of chinese and indian workers were brought in. Fast forward to the current age, some of the malays still feel that the chinese and indians are 'immigrants' and treat them like they're not a citizen, even though they are. I've had my fair share of racism even though I'm a 4th generation Malaysian myself.

We're having a general election today, and from the rumors and videos flying around, I don't think we have much hope. It's not funny when there's pictures and video evidence of vote buying (flying thousands of illegal immigrants to the peninsula for vote, giving out free identification cards, etc), violence, and all round playing dirty.

It's kind of sad that you got to be stuck in this shitty situation. The Malaysian mentality is very different from western countries, and you got to experience this bad side of Malaysia. I can't say sorry on behalf of my country, because I too am subject to this treatment if I am unlucky.

Yea, it's funny how on here people are just calling me racist because I drifted into explaining the Malaysian mentality a bit. But those people are just Americans who never travel.

What were you charged with?

It's not what I was charged with, it's how they do it there that's more fucked up than anything...

See.. In Malaysia, the police can arrest you for any reason they see fit, and hold you up to 14 days in the jail (which they call lockup.) without charging you with anything, while they "investigate." But, if they can't find anything during their "investigation," which mostly involves going around and trying to extort everyone that you know, they can still charge you with any crime and send it to the magistrate (judge) So, after they charge you on the 14th day, they send you to the judge, where they read you the charges against you, after that, the judge ask if there is anyone there to pay your bail, and if there is not, depending on the seriousness of the charges, they will send you the the prison for 2 weeks or more to await your trial.

Also, they give you no phone calls... It's like being thrown into a pit. So I had no idea what was going on...

Anyway, I was charged for taking the equipment that I bought out of the gym, as she said it was her stuff... And it is not like I fenced it.. I just had it in my apartment.

I'm confused. You bought gym equipment and then you were arrested?

I think his business was a gym and he used the equipment at home

I believe he removed the equipment from the gym because his business partner was stiffing him on pay.

I'm not sure how you jumped to that conclusion. He said he bought the stuff from there. If there was no proof of purchase she could have just claimed he stole it. It's stupid, but so are Malaysian police.

That is exactly what happened.

What did you learn from your experience?

Many things. Here are a few...

When you are in another country it is important to have a firm understanding on that culture's thinking process before embarking on any endeavors.

The police in the US, are not THAT bad. Nor is the legal system.

When you are in another country, especially places in Asia, locals can come across as immature and/or annoying to us in the west, but it's important to try and keep in mind that they are STILL adults, and go through the same life that we do in their own countries. So be social with locals and not just other expats, and try to make as many good friends as you can, they are not that hard to find, and unlike back home a lot of times they can go out of their way to help you out if you really need it.

Okay, how did they come across at immature/annoying compared to the West??

Resident of South Korea here. A lot of Asian countries have very family oriented societies where children don't become independent until they're married (at around 30 years old usually, here in Korea for example). Until they're married, they live with their parents, worry very little about money, often don't know how to cook well or do laundry, etc.

As a result, from the perspective of a US citizen who moved out and was financially independent since 17, a lot of 30 year old Koreans are essentially children. Despite only being in my mid 20s, I have to date women over 33 or so to find women who have apartments, cars, and are actually willing to have serious relationships.

Just a bit of insight. Obviously not all Koreans are like this. Some move out early and take care of themselves, but many stay with family until very late, and even after marrying then live with their spouses' parents in another room in their apartment.

Thank you for clearing that up for people just calling me and others "racist." There are too many people to reply to to get into too many details about about everything.

What kept you going during your month in prison? I imagine it got pretty hopeless sometimes.

Man, it felt like I was there for a year. You get no books, no games, no tv, nothing. You just sit around and talk to people and wait for your shitty meals, most of the other people there didn't really do anything either.

Honestly, yea I had no idea what was going on, and at one point, I thought they were going to try and keep me there for 10 years.

Did a lot of people in the cells speak English?

Yup. Many Malaysians that are not ethnic Malay speak excellent English.

I met a girl from New Zealand, a guy from England, Nigerians, a Liberian, Pakistanis, and a guy from Iran, who was there for the biggest mountain of bullshit ever heard.

you met a girl? they put women and men in the same cells there?

No.. They even have a separate block for ladyboys.

What did the Iranian do?

He worked for an Iranian trading company, and the FBI caught him trying to buy an commercial aircraft part in Malaysia, which is (illegal?) because of the sanctions against Iran.. So they are trying to extradite him to the US to stand trial.

Oh man he's so fucked I feel sorry for him

Yea, he was already in there for 1 year. I couldn't apologize enough.

As a Malaysian, how can we help you now? Will you testify against her? I'd like to offer help. If you were caught in the Semenanjung or Sarawak, I may not be of much help though.

Contact Kuan Chee Hong

https://www.facebook.com/kuan.cheeheng?ref=ts&fref=ts

He is a high ranking Malaysian Policeman, and said he will look at it all for me, and try to get me my share of money.

Just tell him that you would really like him to look into it.

I need to get some paper work together for him, and I will as soon as I am finished with the IamA

Aren't all "Locked Up Abroad" stories real life?

Doh~! I see what you are saying :) I guess I missed that when I wrote the title! But man, seriously, I can watch that show now, and be like. Yea! It's totally like that!

were there many fights in prison? did you feel like you were in danger at any time?

No.

The guards loved to beat the crap out of inmates though. Wouldn't touch me though, as they are afraid of western embassies. Actually, the only thing that the American Embassy cares about is if you are being beaten or not, otherwise it could give two shits what happens to you.

Once in awhile though, one of the prisoners, usually Malaysian Indian, will fight the guards back, and they usually win... But they throw you in the hole for 6 months and only give you milk and a dinner role to eat 3 times a day. The rest is just black.

2 guys got into a small scuffle during the lunch handout outside of their cell one day though - they were quickly broken up though - Then thrown in the hole for 2 months each..

In general though. NO ONE WANTS TO FUCKIN FIGHT IN THERE.

No fear from other inmates, as in Malaysian Prison if you keep to yourself, they may try to steal some of your stuff if you are not looking, but no one bothers you like that. The intimidation game doesn't really exist like it does in the US... Because the guards would just beat the shit out of you if they saw you get out of hand or if other inmates complained.

But what was scary is that you have no idea what is happening outside.. You get to talk to no one and you are cut off from all communication. You just get to talk to the embassy once at the police station, one time in the first week.

What did the embassy staff have to say to you?

The American Embassy sucks.. They just ask you if you were being beaten or not, and contact your family. They don't do anything, or really help you.

The Australian embassy is best... They forked out 1 million dollars for one case.

Heh, believe it or not, I was starting to save up money and considering a business venture in Malaysia.

Nopenopenopenopenopenope.

Yea, fuck that dude.

But it depends, there are a ton of good people there, that would be great to do business with... It's just everything else, and, you don't want to just jump into it.

Were Chinese people in your prison also?

That's funny you should ask, because I can speak Chinese.

The local Chinese were mostly there for drug possession. The drug of choice in Malaysia is ice, and most of the people in the prison in general, were there for that.

There was one Chinese guy from Guangzhou, China, in my cell however. He came to Malaysia on a sightseeing vacation, and while he was out shopping, someone at a small currency exchange counter fingered him and said he stole 3000 Malaysian Ringit, and 500 Singapore dollars from them.. Nevermind, he already had 20,000 Malaysian Ringit on him for shopping, which the police took for themselves, they had no witnesses, or security camera footage either.

Oh yea, also, the Chinese kid I got into a fight with, was there because he stole a mobile phone (to pay for his girlfriend's hospital bill, of course.)

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His facebook says he's a MMA guy. I'd love him to elaborate.

He was mad because I asked him not to tear apart a newspaper a guard handed to us in the cell, so he showed me his fist, and i arm dragged him then tripped him.. The other inmates pulled me off though and warned me about the hole though.

not just Chinese, anyone thet doesn't look malay.. they round up randomly. it sounds racist, yes it is..

usually they charge you being an illegal immigrant, for looking foreign.

an active duty US Navy personel on R&R after joint military excersice experienced being detained with no reasons, because he happend to be african-american. they put him in the back of the truck, and surprise.. surprise.. it's full of african migrants. lucky for him, he was active duty, so the MPs were looking for him.. he was charged for being an illegal immigrant because he didn't have his passport.

these police are dumb fucks, they speak bad english.. reasoning with them in english willmlook like resisting arrest.

YES, YES, AND YES.

A lot of people on here aren't really understanding this because something like it would be too surreal in their own countries... But in Malaysia... This is exactly how it is.

How did you get out?????? I have no idea why you are glossing over hte most important question.

Okay! So here is how I got out.

So I had an attorney, which you have to have in Malaysia, because you can't help your own defense at all in Malaysia, was finally able to contact my grandmother, and she got my aunt to wire my liar fees and the police fine to them.

The police fine was 1000USD.....

the lawyers were 2000USD...

And I lost my 5000USD investment in the business, plus all of the time I put in.

All over a 1000USD fine it seems like.

That is horrible. It's good that you got out when you did. Hope you are doing okay now.

I am doing fine. I am hanging out with my beautiful girlfriend from Belarus in Shanghai now.. Things couldn't be better.

After getting chewed up by a corrupt government you moved to China?

The government in China is lightyears ahead of the one in Malaysia.

Malaysian Police can arrest you based on how they feel, even before they have a case.

The Chinese Police can only arrest you if they have already collected 5 pieces of evidence against you.

I think the later is a much more sensible position.

Also, there where a few guys in my cell who were actually in a Chinese prison before.

They were telling me, you get an actual bed, the food is nice, you get money, to have a job, and they have a prison shopping mall.

I would take China prison over Malaysia prison any day.

Not that I am going to go to any prison ever again.

Tomorrow, Dr Anwar Ibrahim will become prime minister. The man who was jailed for years by former prime minister, Dr Mahathir. He sent him to jail in exactly the same way you were. Pay some people a bunch of money and come up with all sorts of made up charges. He knows first hand how fucked up the jails are and how fucked up the system is. The Malaysian people want change and it will happen tomorrow.

Yea, it's funny.. People on here aren't really grasping that this is what exactly happened to me. I guess it's because in their own countries, giving a cop 100 bucks to arrest someone is so over the top sounding, they they just can't bring themselves to believe something so "ridicules." This is standard practice to deal with your "enemies." in Malaysia.

I hope he actually does something... Because the legal system is fucked up.

Did you have to shank anyone?

Hahaha.. No, but I took someone down and held them in a head and arm triangle to calm them down without hurting them.

Sorry to hear about what happened to you, Isamu. I actually met Suraya once. She was looking for an apartment to rent to house an expat (I'm assuming you) who would be teaching at the MMA gym she was trying to set up at Plaza Damas. Apparently mine wasn't posh enough.

Anyway, glad to hear you're out and hopefully far the fuck away from Malaysia by now.

For anyone who's curious about the business partner who screwed him over, she's featured in this article: http://tinyurl.com/ce6jtwf

Dude... I lived in the gym. The original guy Hakim, she would have given him hand jobs if he asked.

Once he left, she treated me like shit, although all I did was try to help her, and built the business myself.

Once business was going well, she thought she could take it from there, and decided to get rid of me..

But she didn't realize that once I left, all of MY students would go to. This just ticked her off...

and people hate singapore in the west....huzzah!

Singapore is Heaven compared to Malaysia. But I guess... At least in Malaysia, if you have enough money you can get away with any crime under the sun.

How was the food?

Beyond awful.

In the jail,

Breakfast - 1 packaged bread roll and a small bag of tea, tied with a rubber band.

Lunch - They bring you a brown paper bundle wrapped with a rubber band, containing a little bit of rice, 1 sardine, and a slice of cucumber. One time, I just had 2 sardine heads in mine... And they were burnt. Occasionally, there was half of a chicken wing.... Yes.. They broke small chicken wings in half, before they served them.... They also gave the cell a bag of soup which we used to poor on our rice so it would not taste so dry. To drink, they gave us like... A small bag of pink water.... It was extremely diluted Kool-Aide or something.

Dinner - Exact same thing as above.

The whole time I was at the jail, I just wanted some freakin water. The guard told me to drink it from that tap, and told me that it was filtered. I held myself back from it though, despite my thirst.

At the prison, it was the same thing, just a bigger portion, and got hot water to drink, and a baked roll, which was the only thing that was remotely good.

Towards the end or my stay, I had to stop eating though, as the fish was starting to make me sick, and I started tasting it all the way up my nose without it going away.

There was also a prison store, which you only got to go to if someone came and put money into your account, or if you had a visitor. But I didn't have any of that... I just got what other inmates shared. The Nigerians there were very kind to me.

If you didn't drink the water from the tap, did you just stay thirsty and drink the weird pink water? ):

Yes... Yes I did.

They used tap to make that weird pink water.

Whatever it was.. I didn't like it.. It was just something to do.

How long have you been in Malaysia prior to the incident?

5 months, and another 6 months 6 months before that.

Im a Malaysian born in Australia and I'm sorry that you were treated that way. Very sorry

So am I. There are a lot of really good people in Malaysia, but there are also a lot of snakes, and all around turds too.

Tomorrow is Malaysia's General Elections, you know?

It won't help.. Malaysians in general don't understand how politics work yet, nor do they understand that when it changes, it doesn't change.

Can you describe the most eccentric individual that you came across during your imprisonment?

In the second week at the jail, when the lawyer first met me at the police station, him and his assistant explained to me that the maximum sentence for being convicted of "theft" was 10 years, and that, although the charges were bullshit, they were serious.

So, when I got back to the jail, I wasn't exactly in the best mood. and threw a few things against the bars.

Then after a week being there this guy that I really didn't pay any attention to (manly because he was passed out against the wall one the other side of the cell the whole time.) Came up to me, and explained that I don't have anything to worry about, he told me what was going to happen, and that the most I would get is 2 months, and it's not so bad. All in Fluent English.

Turned out, his mother, and Australian Chinese, moved to Penang from Australia as part of a deal from the Aussie Airforce to help train pilots, and his dad was a local Chinese Malaysian.

He was 50 years old, and was fluent in English, Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, and Hunanese.

The story of his life is that he left home when he was 14, and went out and hitchhiked across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.. He went to Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi, Arabia, France, Italy, the UK, and Many other countries.

He stayed in Hamburg Germany and preformed as a street musician there for a year with a German kid and another Malay, and he went to London after that, and worked in Chinatown at a Chinese restaurant there for a year.

He did Tae Kwon Do as a boy, and when he returned to Malaysia, he took to the street to prove how tough he was, and the local triads took him in.

From there he mostly dealed in Sending Malaysian Chinese girls to Japan and Hong Kong for prostitution. He never forced them, and only asked that they pay 10.00 out of the 150.00 dollars they got out of each customer.

He admitted he manipulated them into the line of work though, first he would show them a luxurious lifestyle as a girlfriend of his, then he would take it all away, then he would ask them to do "this" for him. Which he said they always said yes too. He did this from when he was 19 to 29.

Then when he turned 29 he got hooked on drugs, which is against Triad rules, so he hung up his coat. He also began to lean towards other men, and became gay.

Since then, and for the last 20 years, he has been a professional house breaker, which he uses to fund his drug habit.

10 years ago too.. He converted to Islam.

His house breaking partner (and best friend) a Malay guy, who wasn't gay (he had a girlfriend.) was in the cell too, and was a character himself, about 23 years old, and could also sing. His name was Remly.

Remly would sing in Malay a lot.

But the other guy, and damn... I never got him name, would sing Bob Marley songs.. When he did that... The Nigerians in the cell next to use, would become livid with excitement.

Both of them had some great talent... It was a shame it is all wasted on ice for now.. But the problem is, people on drugs in Malaysia don't see themselves as having a drug problem, they see it as being "cool."

He knew it out of all of them though, and when I asked him how he has been able to keep his mind while being on drugs... And he just said.

"Most drug users were never smart to begin with."

I guess he has a point.

He also told me how he believes how he is paying for his sins, in that he is a junky and can't have a family (since he's gay now.) for the things that he did when he was younger.. But he put it in a way in that it was karma's way of coming back to him, and he also told me, that although mine are not as big as his, i will go through my own trials too, as even at that time, I was paying for my own sins, even though they were not as big as his.

He was there because he was caught for possession, and had never been in trouble from house breaking or stealing. I met him at the jail, and never saw him at the prison.

Anyway, A Gay Junky Muslim Chinese, Bob Marley Singer that breaks into houses is pretty eccentric in my opinion.

What kind of business was it?

It was a gym, I was the head MMA instructor, and also taught Judo and Jiujitsu. Something that a 50 year old women who didn't know shit could have "totally" did on her own.

As someone who is about to go on a study year in Malaysia, is there any advice you can give me on anything about the country that I might not think to ask?

Yea. Go somewhere else.

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When you go to prison you ALWAYS make friends.

80% of the foreigners locked up, didn't really do anything

As a Thai, I hear this a lot from foreigners. It usually means they knowingly broke the law but didn't think it was important and feel they shouldn't be punished eg. driving on a foreign licence without the accompanying international driving permit.

True, but I have dealt with the Thai police before. They don't arrest you in Thailand on the word of 1 person with no evidence, you actually have to break the law there AND be stupid about it. I found that despite the corruption that goes on there, many of them are reasonable.

40% of that 80% of foreigners were being held while their passport was sent to their embassy "to check if real passport or not." Which was a process that took 2-4 weeks.

One university student that I met there, was just stopped (probably because he was black.) and they told him they were going to arrest him to check his passport.

He then offered them 500 Ringit just to leave him alone.

They responded by taking the money, and charging him with trying to bribe a police officer too.

Can you pay money to have your old business partner arrested now?

Actually there are a lot of things I can do to her for next to no money, and she is so stupid not to realize that.

Did anyone die while you were in there?

Yes, 1 Singaporian and 1 Malay were hanged while I was in there.

Thanks for the AMA!

Did you have family or a girlfriend that we're aware of the situation? Was there anything that they would've been able to do for you on the other side?

My girlfriend is from Belarus, and is in China, which is where I am now. I was supposed to meet her a week or so after I got arrested, so she had no idea what happened to me.

When the embassy comes to see you, you do not have access to anything. Lucky for me though, my grandparent's phone number has been unchanged for 40 years, and is probably the only number that I have memorized.

The embassy also gave me a list of lawyers to call. I just picked one that looked decent and called using the ambassadors mobile right away, then gave the attorney's my grandparent's number when they came to see me the next week (the ambassador came on a Friday.)

When I saw the attorney afterwards in the charge reading hearing thing, he told me that he could not get ahold of my grandparents, and seemed worried about not getting paid... I thought... Oh Dear....

After that, I heard nothing, until the day I got released... Going to court, I had no idea what was going to happen.

I used to want to travel the world a lot, but after reading through reddit and coming across these stories it has made me much more fearful, realizing how corrupt many places are and I would just be a foreigner with no rights and little understanding of the culture I'm in.

Naw, it's normally very positive.. Just make sure you have money, a job, and a plan wether it's a short trip, or if you want to live abroad.

was there alot of drugs smuggles in the prison?

The guards brought in all of the drugs. Other inmates smuggled drugs and tobacco by swallowing to poop them out later.

Is it the same rules in Malaysian prisons as US prisons. 'Don't drop the soap'

No.