Sugarbook is an

online dating service Online dating, also known as Internet dating, Virtual dating, or Mobile app dating, is a relatively recent method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An onlin ...

that was founded in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Sugarbook is most popular in the Southeast Asian countries of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The site is controversial in Malaysia, the country where it was founded. On February 23, 2021, Sugarbook founder and CEO, Darren Chan was arrested by Malaysian police and put in lockup for 10 days, as authorities in the Muslim-majority country believed that Chan had violated anti-prostitution laws.

History

Sugarbook was founded by Darren Chan in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

in 2016. The site focuses on connecting "

sugar daddies ''Sugar Daddies'' is a silent comedy short film starring Jimmy Finlayson, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy prior to their official billing as the duo Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early ...

" with " sugar babies." The "sugar babies" can register for free, while the "sugar daddies" pay membership fees to find matches.

Controversy

Formula One sponsorship

In 2018, Sugarbook had sponsored a party as part of the

Singapore Tourism Board The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore to mean the executive branch of the ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship ...

-themed Sky Grande Prix event, but it was cancelled due to the controversial nature of the company's platform.

Arrest of founder and ban in Malaysia

On February 23, 2021, Sugarbook Founder and CEO, Darren Chan was arrested and put in lockup for 10 days. The arrest was internationally condemned, prompting attorneys and netizens to questions its legality. Chan later pleaded not guilty to the charges. Sugarbook was also blocked by Malaysian ISPs, but users in Malaysia found ways to bypass the blocks, such as using

VPN A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. The be ...

s. There was a public outcry across the Asia-Pacific region, with the media publishing articles about the controversy in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. A day after the ban the company circumvented the block by using the

URL A Uniform Resource Locator (URL), colloquially termed as a web address, is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identifi ...

sucrebook.com. On April 4, 2021, Darren Chan spoke out about the case to

VICE News Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice News was create ...

. Chan's arrest also prompted coverage from the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

, Astro AEC, among others.

Google Play Store ban

As of September 1, 2021,

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

has banned Sugarbook and a number of other sugar baby apps from its

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...

store.

References

External links

*
Google Play
{{portalbar, Malaysia Mobile social software Online dating services Online dating services for specific interests Online dating applications Internet properties established in 2016 2016 establishments in Malaysia Censorship in Malaysia