Malaysia's health minister quit his post yesterday after a sex scandal in which he featured in two pornographic videos where he was shown with a woman he described as a "personal friend".
Chua Soi Lek, 61, stepped down a day after conceding that he was the man shown indulging in various sexual acts in the DVDs which were widely circulated in the minister's home state of Johor.
Chua, a former doctor who is married with three children, had initially refused to resign after saying he had apologised to the Malaysian prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, and his family who had accepted his remorse. But with a general election he decided to spare the government further embarrassment and limit the political fallout in the conservative, predominantly Muslim country.
The minister said he was relinquishing all posts, including his seat as an MP and vice-president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, the second party in the ruling coalition. In a news conference Chua bemoaned the fact that people "could not accept" his public apology. "Some Malaysians have a holier-than-thou attitude," he said.
The two pornographic DVDs - one 56 minutes long and the other 44 - began circulating late last week. Many were left in public places for people to take for viewing, with a copy finally passed to Chua by a friend on Sunday.
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