THE government and private sectors are doing their best to ensure women’s safety, including the specially designated women’s coaches in the metro, as well as parking zones.
However, misusing these privileges for personal convenience and putting others at a disadvantage is not fair.
In the online space, women are emphasising the importance of respecting the original purpose of “pink zones” and encouraging others not to take them for granted, even when accompanied by someone else, particularly men.
Meanwhile, there are people who are bitter about mothers with toddlers having to have the parking there, counting them as having company.
Dismissing this, many agreed it is justifiable for women with babies or toddlers to use the spaces for safety reasons, but “strictly” not for women accompanied by their husbands, they said.
“Ladies’ parking is meant for the safety of solo female drivers, when they come there alone. If you are in a group of people, walking a bit further shouldn’t be a problem,“ stressed Jay G.
Pointing to this issue, Yashweeni Murali said there are reckless people, who misuse these parking lots because some of the malls do not have good or strict security systems.
Some women have also referenced the rape and murder case of Canny Ong in June 2003.
Ong, who had gone to a shopping mall in Bangsar for dinner, was abducted by an unknown man from the basement car park when she went alone to retrieve a parking ticket from her vehicle.
In fact, this case became a turning point for many shopping malls in the Klang Valley to begin prioritising women’s safety by providing women-only parking spaces.
