Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Kicking their sorry butts


Me, and Kim Fay, working on the slideshow today in the computer lab.

Today's meeting was a brainstorming session. We had to crack open our brains with mental hammers and put forward creative yet practical suggestions.

Now, that was the hard part. Practical suggestions.

Anyone can sprout ideas from the tip of their tongues, but when it comes to practicality, how many of these ideas can actually be applied? For example, the problem with buses is that its shape deters the driver from seeing if anyone is being sexually harassed, especially if it's a crowded bus.

One of the solutions?

A miniature, round-shaped bus.

A miniature, round-shaped bus where everyone sits in the view of everyone. Sounds like a solution...in cartoons.

But if there's one incontrovertible thing, the round-shaped bus is a creative idea. Just minus the practicality. Hence, minus the mark. =( Which is not good at all.

So no, a round-shaped bus is not our solution.

I really hope to hear some of your ideas. It doesn't matter if it's boring and mediocre or just plain ridiculous, please do voice them out here! Every comment counts. =)

9 comments:

KIM said...

I suggest, taxis with passenger eject buttons! this way, when the taxi drivers drive you off in some other direction to do something nasty, with a click of that red button, and you are sent out of the taxi. Of course, parachutes for safe landing =) That's my cartoon suggestion.

Realistically, taxis should have some kind of taxi-detector button so that by the click of it, cctv comes on and the police will know that you are in trouble and will come to your rescue!

Anonymous said...

how about setting up a proper complaints procedure with rapidkl so that their staff is trained to know what to do and will take action if there is a harrasment complaint? because whats the point of speaking up if people ignore you only or dont take you seriously?

you guys are doing good work! keep itu up!

Anonymous said...

Round buses and passenger eject buttons are cute and all but it just ain't gonna sell....

cctv on a taxi is "realitic" in a way....but there are many ways for the sexual predator to sabotage the system since it is his taxi anyway....
More realistic would be the cost to outfit the the taxis with them...
And a whole lot of other disadvantages....

a complaint area is nice and all but how would 1 actually handle the complaint??

Just imagine a women being sexually harrased on a public transport and goes and complaint...
First she exits the vehicle,then she finds the proper personnel to report and then guide the person to the vehicle where it happened and point out the person....
And just how long do you think that will take??
15 20 minutes perhaps??
Sure u might think thats not long but think how long a LRT can wait??
Surely you don't supposed the entire train network to delayed it's schedule for 1 person and you know Malaysian public transport it's ineffective as it is....
as selfish as it may seem it is reality....
And in the case of buses that time may be used for the sexual predator to flee.

You all might think that the victim could get a good look at the sexual predators face and get the sketch artist to draw??
But in reality how many women would dare to look at the sexual harraser in the eye and if she were turn behind and look the sexual predator would most probally act dumb....


This should be preventing it from happening and not thinking of what we should do after it happens,
though there should still be ways to help if it does....

BTW,Malaysian police forces dun have enough manpower to assign policemen's to every public transport area(Train Station,Bus Station,ETC)nation wide.....
Such is the grim reality but that shouldn't stop us from doing every what we can do to help and raise awareness...

Anonymous said...

A simple cost free solution would be to compartmentalised the men from the women.....

An example would be that on the bus the men would sit on the left and the women on the right....

And on trains a compartment or carriage can be designated solely to women only.....

Couples are gonna have to bear with this so,Sorry....

May Zhee said...

Thanks for the suggestion, guys!

Anonymous said...

actually, i thought of the complaints thingy because when it happened to me once on the bus, the driver & conductor totally ignored my situation despite me shouting about it! and i felt like a stupid idiot! so if all public transport personnel are trained properly to take harrassment seriously, then that alone will go along way. at least, women who are being harrassed won't feel shy or foolish about speaking up.

about comparmentalising men & women, that doesnt tackle the underlying cause which is a lack of respect for women. plus its not so 'simple' as it sounds. what about families? are you going to separate husbands and sons & mothers & daughters frm travelling together?

Anonymous said...

Hmm, send a guard to see if anyone is harrassing anyone in public transport? But if its taxi,I think you could put a button that, if the driver is gonna do something to you, like taking you do another direction, you can push the button and the taxi will stop. Then, you could get down and run off?

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry for what happened to you.....

Off course comparmentalising men & women doesn't tackle with the issue of respect because that idea is to tackle the prevention of sexual harresment....

And if a sexual harreser is hell bent on sexually harrasing some1 then what respect do you think
you will get from such person??

Of course family can still board the normal buses(by normal i mean the 1 where both man and women can board,not normal as in rectangular shape normal but still it should still be rectangular instead of round....)
Sexual predators won't usually target a family because DUH there is man around,probally the husband....

But for women traveling alone and women with young kids be it boy or girl(Come on,where you were a small boy didn't your mother use to take you into the women's toilet so she can supervise you more easily??I mean this is just a bus....)it should be recomended that they sit buses that are solely designated for women only.....

Anonymous said...

If a sexual harreser were to see a guard,don't you think he would just take off/run away??

And in the case of the taxi,Once again this system could be sabotoged by the driver
as most taxi's are self owned...
And a button to stop a car suddenly can prove to be potentially dangerous...

 

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