Outrage over pix of foreigners urinating on Mt Kinabalu

An investigation by Sabah Parks has begun since Sabahans consider the mountain a sacred resting ground of their ancestors’ spirits.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabahans are outraged by a photograph of five foreigners urinating near the peak of Mount Kinabalu, an area which they consider sacred.

The photograph taken from a distance has since gone viral on social media after it was posted on May 30.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun said he had ordered Sabah Parks to investigate the matter and to ascertain if the incident did indeed take place.

He said Sabah Parks was checking with mountain guides if any of them had knowledge of the incident.

“It could have been a superimposed photograph. We are doing a full investigation,” The Star Online quoted Masidi as saying yesterday.

Sabah Parks chairman Tengku Zainal Adlin said the 4,095 metre mountain was sacred, adding that such an act was disrespectful to the people who revered it.

The Kadazandusuns believe that the mountain is the sacred resting ground of the spirits of their ancestors and should be treated with great respect.

They also believe that the word Kinabalu comes from the word Aki Nabalu which means abode of the dead.