Deputy Minister wants Sugarbook to be banned in Malaysia

Sugar daddy dating site Sugarbook has recently stirred controversy after it released a purported infographic of the top 10 “sugar baby” universities in Malaysia. To prevent youths from getting into immoral activities, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister Department (Religious Affairs), Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, has called upon the government to ban the app in Malaysia. He said this during a drive-thru food donation event at Kota Bharu in Kelantan.

The minister said stern action should be taken against the users on the platform as well as individuals who are handling the Sugarbook app. He said students in institutions of higher learning are allegedly using the app to make extra money to pay for their tuition fees and this is worrying the government.

The Sugarbook app is currently only available on the Google Play Store and the platform is also accessible on its website..

Ahmad Marzuk shared that the relevant enforcement agencies under the PM’s Department could take action against the app users. He also added that he will leave the matter to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Ministry of Higher Education for further action.

This isn’t the first time Sugarbook had attracted attention in Malaysia. In 2019, the platform had ran digital billboard ads which went viral. After receiving a number of complaints, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) had ordered the billboard owner to take them down as the ad copy was not approved by the relevant authorities.

Darren Chan, who is the Founder and CEO of Sugarbook platform had defended the ads and insists that Sugar babies are not illegal sex workers. He claims that Sugarbook was built to empower women by giving them a dating platform to choose freely what they want in an ideal relationship without being scrutinised.

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