Speaking of sub-cultures, this sect in Asia has a media relations problem also.

The Sky Kingdom sect is in northern Malaysia. The 61 year old leader claims to be God. His followers have a six acre compound.

On the compound is a giant pink teapot. The teapot symbolizes the showering of God’s blessings on all mankind. One of his followers says:

A lot of things have changed my life here,” she says. “It’s really a miracle place. They have changed my life, because I do suffer a lot out there, before I met Ayah. I find happiness love, everything here. To be honest, I was an alcoholic before.”

Sound similar to the suggested soundbite in the memo below, eh?

Race, religion and politics mingle uneasily in Malaysia, making the existence of the cult remarkable. Four members of the group were jailed for two years for attempting to leave Islam in 1998, and the former fundamentalist government of Terrengganu state, run by the Islamic Party of Malaysia, tried to close it down in 2000. While religious freedom is enshrined in the country’s secular constitution, Malaysia’s parallel Islamic judicial system holds great sway over the Muslim majority on religious issues.

Many cult followers do not publicly admit their association with Ayah Pin; in closely knit Malay societies doing so could lead to ostracism and humiliation. Many end up leading double lives, appearing to follow Malay Muslim ways among friends and colleagues, but shedding many of those pretensions at home. “None of my friends at school know that my mother is a follower of Ayah Pin,” says 12-year-old Johan.

To Ayah Pin’s followers, any bad press he receives is merely confirmation that their small community is under threat, fostering ever stronger bonds among them.

Authorities have said the two storey pink teapot has to come down, along with the giant concrete boat and big umbrella.