HIV: Yes, you trust your partner, but routine screening can save your life

SHAH ALAM - As news of a major police raid on a gay spa in Chow Kit circulates across social media, one Malaysian woman’s raw and painful experience about her marriage has gone viral, reigniting conversations on trust, sexual health and the silent dangers many spouses face behind closed doors.

The raid, which saw 208 individuals arrested, including 17 civil servants, immediately triggered her memories of a traumatic chapter six years ago.

For one Threads user who goes by the name 'randomrant', the news felt like déjà vu.

"It brought me straight back to six years ago,” she wrote in a viral thread on social media, recounting her experience discovering that her then-husband, a doctor, had been secretly engaging in same-sex relationships.

In her post, the woman shared how suspicions first formed early into her marriage.

“I had been suspicious for months. He didn’t touch me for seven, eight months. Always said he was tired from work, but when his group of friends asked him out, suddenly he's not tired," she said.

According to her, most of his social circle were 'gay or gay enablers,' including fellow doctors and women who actively helped conceal his activities.

“He confessed after I caught him. So I went for an STD test. I tested positive for syphilis, latent stage. I thought the earlier symptoms were just allergies. I forced him to get tested; his titre reading was extremely high," she added.

What followed was months of emotional chaos and repeated promises of change from her spouse. Eventually, the couple divorced.

Her treatment was long and exhausting.

“I had to go to Hospital Sungai Buloh twice a year for three years. Sometimes I cried… it was a test from God. Now, not anymore.”

Until today, she said that she keeps strict boundaries.

“If I ever see them again as my doctors, I’ll request a different one. If my kids end up in the same school where his best buddies teach, I’ll transfer my kids. They were all accomplices," she said.

She claims her ex-husband’s network, made up mostly of professionals in health and education, was aware of his activities and enabled it.

“That’s why I wasn’t shocked so many doctors and teachers got caught in the recent raid. This is the reality I faced six years ago," she said.

Her post went viral just as Kuala Lumpur police confirmed a major operation on a health club believed to be used for unnatural sexual activities.

Former Health Ministry Disease Control Director Dr Anita Suleiman pointed out that while young Malaysians are meeting partners faster through dating apps, many aren’t pairing that behaviour with regular screening or honest conversations.

“When people meet partners more easily but don’t combine that with regular testing, honest conversations about safety or protection, the chances of HIV and STI transmission increase,” she said.

She added that the real danger isn’t just the act itself, it’s the false confidence, the assumption that it won’t happen to me.

Kuala Lumpur police deputy chief Datuk Mohd Azani Omar said the operation was conducted after two weeks of surveillance.

“We detained 201 patrons and seven employees aged 19 to 60, including 24 foreigners," he said.

Condoms and various items believed to be used for sexual activities were seized. The club had been operating for eight to ten months and was promoted through TikTok and word-of-mouth.