Sea Gypsies live nomadic, sea-based life of Sabah

A community of 30 families of the indigenous ethnic group of sea gypsies are still maintaining a nomadic and sea-based life without fresh water supply, TV nor electricity, and only go to land to bury the dead.

Young sea gypsies play in the water in the centre of their neighbourhood in the Sulawesi Sea in Malaysia's state of Sabah on the Borneo island.

A family of sea gypsies laugh as they sit in their hut in the Sulawesi Sea in Malaysia's state of Sabah on the Borneo island.

Young sea gypsies play in the water in their neighbourhood in Sulawesi Sea in Malaysia's state of Sabah.

A sea gypsy boy peddles his boat through his neighbourhood in Sulawesi Sea in Malaysia's state of Sabah.


A sea gypsy smiles before she leaves to fish in her neighbourhood in Sulawesi Sea in Malaysia's state of Sabah on the Borneo island.

Sea gypsy boys peddle their boat through their neighbourhood in Sulawesi Sea in Malaysia's state of Sabah.

Young sea gypsies laugh as they gather outside of their hut in their neighbourhood in the Sulawesi Sea in Malaysia's state of Sabah.

A neighbourhood of a sea gypsy community is seen in the Sulawesi Sea in the Malaysia's state of Sabah on the Borneo island

Young sea gypsies laugh as they gather outside of their hut in their neighbourhood in the Sulawesi Sea in Malaysia's state of Sabah on the Borneo island.


Bazuki Muhammad

Identical twins avoid drugs death sentence

Malaysian identical twin brothers have escaped hanging for drug trafficking as a court failed to decide which brother was the criminal, and cleared both.

A judge in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, said the case was unique and she could not send the wrong person to his death.

In 2003 police arrested one brother found driving drugs to a house. The second twin arrived soon afterwards and was also arrested.

Neither officers nor a DNA test could identify which twin owned the drugs.

Sathis and Sabarish Raj, 27, cried in court when they heard the judge say that the prosecution had failed to prove which twin had been arrested first with a car containing 166kg of cannabis and almost 2kg of raw opium.

According to the New Straits Times, the judge told the court: "I can't be calling the wrong twin to enter his defence. I can't be sending the wrong person to the gallows."

Execution is mandatory for convicted drugs traffickers in Malaysia.