TWO days ago, Malaysia celebrated its 67th year of independence.
One may think that after 67 years, we would learn to appreciate and take care of one another.
However, a recent incident of a bunch of Malaysian youths attempting to intimidate an elderly woman on a train shows that we have a long way to go.
Media personality Sheahnee Iman Lee took to her Instagram to share how her elderly mother was harassed by a group of male youths on a Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) Komuter train from Klang to Kuala Lumpur on National Day.
The 72-year-old former schoolteacher who was on the women’s coach noticed that there was already a group of boys, crowding and overwhelming the female passengers.
“My mother, a schoolteacher for 40 years, spoke up and reminded the boys that they were in the women’s coach.”
Much to the elderly woman’s dismay, the boys responded rudely at her remark, “We are Malaysian!” and “This is my country!”
They didn’t stop there.
The boys proceeded to take videos of her mother and got even more of their friends to fill up the woman’s coach, worrying her mother and the other few women present.
“Just because my mum’s skin colour doesn’t meet your standards, she has no right to speak up? Just because you’re Malaysian, you think you have the right to do whatever you wish?
She then shared that her mother “may be white” but “chose to stay” in Malaysia most of her life, devoting her time and effort to develop local sports, educated many of Malaysia’s royalty and politicians, and paid her taxes.
“You would think, after 67 years, we would have grown as people.
“When we raise kids who have no respect for elders, no respect for women, and no respect for rules, I wonder whether this next generation of Malaysians will build or tear down our hard-fought nation,” she said.
Sheahnee updated her post later sharing that KTM reached out to her to take report of the incident.
“They were empathetic, listened with openness and were receptive to my feedback.”
She was informed that all KTM trains have an intercom button you can press to get help in the event of an incident or emergency.
However, she informed KTM that in such incidents where a woman is outnumbered by a large group of males, trying to reach an intercom could be difficult or even provoke them, and suggested that random and regular spot checks in trains and stations be implemented.
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