PETALING JAYA, Oct 1 — Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz is appalled that an international conference themed ‘Love and Sex with Robots’, will be held in the country as it goes against social norms. 

“Such events upset the sensitivities of Malaysians regardless of their religion. It’s an obscene idea to organise such a conference in Malaysia,” he said yesterday. 

Unaware of the event until he was informed by Malay Mail, Nazri was also shocked that the organiser’s website loveandsexwithrobots.org carried Tourism Malaysia’s logo for Malaysia Year of Festivals 2015. 

“By using our logo, the organiser is implying Tourism Malaysia endorses the event. The organisers will be told to remove the logo immediately,” Nazri said who is in Turkey. 

He said the logo could be used freely but never for such events. 

The Second International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots will be held on Nov 16 in Iskandar Johor. It will be chaired by City University London’s Prof Adrian Cheok and Intelligent Toys Limited’s chief officer, Dr David Levy, the website said.

There will be 13 topics, including Robot Personalities, Teledildonics, Intelligent Electronic Sex Hardware and Gender Approaches.

Tourism Malaysia chairman Wee Choo Keong expressed surprise when he was informed of the event.

“I am definitely not aware of it. This is the first time I have heard of it. I will look into the matter,” he said, adding that appropriate action would be taken against the organiser once details were clear.

“The logo represents our tourist brand and not by any measure would we have approved its use for such an event.”

A check on the website showed the organisers planned to hold the event at the Black Box and White Box arts complex in Medini Mall next to Legoland Malaysia in Iskandar, Johor, a major economic hub.

Also included was information on heritage sites and tourist attractions in the state, including Senai, Western Gate Development, Nusajaya, Eastern Gate development and the city centre.

Levy, one of the co-chairmen, had authored a book titled Love and Sex and Robots in 1997. He said human-like robots would inevitably be developed and questions over human-robot relationships would arise.

“It just takes one celebrity endorsement to say sex with a robot is fantastic and you will have people queuing up from New York to California,” he said.

“If you have a robot that looks like a human, feels like a human, behaves like a human, talks like a human ... why shouldn’t people find it appealing?”