Anak Ikan

Anak ikan is term used by malaysian gay men to describe teenage boys who are in their pubescent period. They can be from 12 to 18 years of age, as long as they retain their boyish features and charms.

I first stumbled on the word anak ikan when a gay friend told me that his friend has an endless supply of boytoys in his rather large and extravagant abode. "Anak ikan, dia ramai betul anak ikan. Mentang-mentanglah mak bapak dia kaya raya, selamba gajah je dia bela."

"Anak ikan? Apasal panggil dorang anak ikan?"

"Kalau you letak tangan you dalam aquarium mesti ikan-ikan follow kan? Kalau you ade roti lagilah.. Lebih kurang macam tu lah."

I asked him in detail how his metaphore applies in real life and as soon as he finished, I was taken aback. His explaination was quite harmless, that anak ikan are cute growing teens who hangs out with older men but the unsaid extended to a whole new level of grotesque.

Because teenage boys are extremely curious, gay men who courted them took advantage of this by giving them options to explore their sexuality.

For example, Zaki is a 15 year old highschool student who lives in a flat. He has a striking face, a body of a lingering youth and popeye-ish sexual drive. We were all Zaki at some point so you should what I mean. But Zaki comes from a relatively poor family who can't afford to provide Zaki what they consider an extravagant lifestyle. So this is where Wenkty comes into the story. Wenkty is an open gay man who is priveledged enough to buy a Fendi once a week.

In a day-to-day swirl of circumstances, Wenkty met Zaki. Wenkty introduced Zaki to his world, where the Sky Bar is as easily accessible as McDonald's and a Nike shoe is bought with small change. There is no said contract. Zaki wants a piece of Wenkty lifestyle, Wenkty wants a pubescent companion that he can take care of. It's a done deal.

No harm there right? When you put a mature gay man and a curious teenager in a same hotel room, what do you think would happen?

A rather distant friend disclosed to me that he and his anak ikan's night activities are acts of innocent homoeroticism. Solah, a successful sales executives who happens to be gay told me that what he enjoyed most of having anak ikan around is that that they are easily persuaded.

"Once, I told him that nudism is a normal thing in my household and he should respect that." Solah said enthusiastically, as if telling a first part of a joke. "I had him stark naked for one whole week in my house. Seronok! Especially when I flirted with him, I like them anak ikan steamed!" He guffowed, pouncing on the kedai mamak's signature metallic table. I was disgusted but laughed anyway, out of courtesy.

"What else do you do with your anak ikan?"

"Everything else I can of course. I gave him what he wants but God knows I'm the one who had all the fun!"

"Like?"

"I gave them handjobs, blowjobs,.."

"And sex?"

"Oh no, not sex! Never sex. They are anak ikan for goodness sake, not my hubby. I just, you know, have fun with them. Are you planning to make a movie about anak ikan now Afiq? Nah try this blog." Solah keyed in something in his blackberry and passed it to me.

The blog was about a transexual who blogged about her sexual escapades and in her latest entry, she posted pictures of her anak ikan group masturbating to straight porn.

"Ni extra co-curricular activitieslah ni! Hahaha!" Solah let out his infamous laugh once again.

In some coutries, you can get arrested and put in jail for commiting ANY sexual act with minors, with or without the minor's consent. And I'm surprised, surprised at how people seems to be okay with this. Just this morning I read a status from one of my facebook friends:

What if you're the parents of this anak ikan? What would you do to people who'd taken advantage of your pubescent child's youth? What if you were the anak ikan in question in retrospect? When you've gotten married with children, how would you react to memories of you being an anak ikan?

Remember, we were all Zaki once.