Climbers in hot water over nude selfie
Eleanor Hawkins must have stood on the summit, gazing at the tropical forests below, and felt like she was on top of the world. The 24-year-old, who had just graduated with a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering, was in the middle of an extended trip around Southeast Asia, to celebrate her degree and relax before finding a job.
Yesterday she had crashed back down to Earth: arrested, facing a possible three-month prison sentence, and sleeping in a Borneo prison cell. Having stripped naked for a jokey photo on top of Mt Kinabalu, in Malaysia, she caused widespread anger across the country.
On June 5 the area was hit by an earthquake, which killed 18 climbers, and some locals even said the quake was a result of the mountain being ‘‘angered’’ by the nudity. Mt Kinabalu is sacred for the local Dasun ethnic group.
‘‘She’s pretty scared and quite upset,’’ said Hawkins’ father, Timothy. ‘‘We really hope they don’t try to make an example of her.’’
The Southampton University graduate had set off on her adventure in January, travelling alone around the region: first Thailand, then Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. She was planning to continue from Malaysia to Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Her mistake came on May 30 when, with a group of nine other Westerners – from Canada, the Netherlands and Germany – she set out to climb the 4095-metre Mt Kinabalu, the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. The tour was organised by Jungle Jack Backpackers Lodge.
‘‘Around 7am, while the group were on their way back from the summit, they started to strip off their clothes – ignoring their guide,’’ said the official complaint, obtained by this newspaper. ‘‘The guide warned them not to do so, but they replied: ‘Stupid man, go to hell.’ He could not stop them. They even took a group photo and a selfie. Then they dressed and returned to the backpacker lodge.’’
The complaint, from a Dasun park ranger, among others, was made on June 2. On Tuesday, Hawkins was arrested. The three Canadians and Dutchman handed themselves in shortly afterwards; a German man, named as Stephan Pohlner, is still being sought. Five more tourists are wanted but their names are not known.
‘‘I don’t know why she did it, but when you’re young these things happen,’’ said Timothy Hawkins. ‘‘Who can honestly say they’ve never done something silly at that age?
‘‘I’m not dismissing it as completely trivial. But it’s just some- thing many of us have done in a mad, drunken moment, that young people do on holidays every year, and have got away with.
‘‘There have been reports in Malaysia that they also urinated or insulted their guide, but I don’t believe that at all. Eleanor just isn’t like that. She is mortified that she might have offended people.’’
Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, the deputy first minister of neighbouring Sarawak state, blamed the tourists for the earthquake and said they deserve to be punished. He said: ‘‘Visitors to these places should respect the place, the local traditions and cultures. Tribal elders have called for the case to also go before a native court.
‘‘To appease the mountain protector, the 10 Western tourists who stripped and urinated on Mt Kinabalu should be fined 10 head of buffalo, according to local customs,’’ said Tindarama Aman Sirom Simbuna. He said the fee was more than the usual fine of 10 chickens or one pig.
The five are expected to appear before the court again on Monday.