Amber Chia, Nude Maids, and Indonesian Playboy

James Joyner @ Gone Hollywood | Wednesday, April 12, 2006

An Indoneisan maid was tricked into posing nude, ostensibly for the country’s new edition of Playboy, and now wants her money Reuters reports.

An Indonesian maid posed in her underwear for pictures her female employer promised would appear in the Indonesian version of Playboy, but complained after receiving no payment, a Malaysian social group said Wednesday. Playboy magazine caused a stir at its launch in Indonesia last week, despite having less skin on display than U.S. issues of 50 years ago. Although banned in Malaysia, it became big news because the center spread featured a top Malaysian model named Amber Chia.

In exchange for a promise of 1,000 ringgit ($272) and the use of her connections with the magazine to get the pictures printed, the woman took pictures of her 25-year-old maid in seductive postures while her family was away, the Star newspaper said. “It was a joke by the employer, but the maid took it seriously,” said M. Ganesha, head of a complaints bureau run by the Malaysian Indian Youth Council, to which the maid turned for help in getting payment. He told Reuters he would settle the dispute within two days and get the photographs returned, but declined to elaborate.

“In Malaysia posing for nude photographs or taking nude photographs is illegal, so if the maid complains to the police, both of them will face charges,” said L. Krishnan, an official in southwestern Negeri Sembilan state, where the incident occurred.

For those unfamiliar with Amber Chia, who models for Guess among other things, here are some photos:

In apparently unrelated news, Indonesians today stoned the Playboy offices.

A group of Muslims protesting Playboy’s decision to launch an Indonesian edition of the magazine clashed with police Wednesday and stoned the company’s editorial offices, witnesses said. No one was injured in the protest involving around 150 members of the Islamic Defenders’ Front, a small group with a history of attacking bars and nightclubs, as well as Western embassies. The protesters smashed several windows and the door and gate at the magazine’s offices in south Jakarta, witnesses said. Several were seen scuffling with police officers guarding the building.

Playboy’s first local edition in a Muslim country went on sale Friday. It features no nudity, and its photos of women in undergarments are less risque than in other magazines already for sale in the country. But many Islamic politicians and preachers have condemned the publication, with most saying that the name of the magazine itself was grounds for the government to ban it.

This is a religion where people get murdered for drawing cartoons of Mohammad, so the reaction to Playboy is hardly a surprise.