Saturday, June 16, 2007

Sexual harassment on public transport

The only thing worse than sexual harassment itself is probably not telling anyone about it. More so in the conservative Malaysian communities, where people are not so keen on attracting attention to themselves.

But don't you know that at the same time, that has cost you your rights? What do you do when a man on the bus takes a photo of what's under your skirt? Ignore him and pray he will go away?

NO!

Scream! Shout! Voice out! Put the sexual harasser to shame! Banish these foul creatures from the face of the earth! Which is precisely what this post asks from you.

To get the ball rolling, I’ll quote several experiences from celebrity blogger Xiaxue:


There was once i was on my way home from school. I was in my RV PE uniform and and i sat on the window seat of a very empty bus. This Bangala (not again!) came aboard and he decided, among the 30 other EMPTY seats, to sit beside me.

No, he didnt actually sit beside me. He sat ON my lap! He then pretended that the bus was shaking thus he "accidentally" sat on me, and slided down my lap so that he was actually sitting so close to me that my whole thigh were touching his whole thigh. Freaked out and shocked, i tried first to pull out my school skirt, which he sat on. When i was doing the pulling, HE GRABBED MY HAND!!!!

I "urgh!!" and moved seats to far far behind him. I WAS SUCH A WIMP!! I CANT FORGIVE MYSELF for letting him go scot free!! Later on he kept looking back at me.


The above is an example of cases that the writer herself experienced. The following is one she has witnessed.



Once, after work at ard 12am, me and 2 of my colleagues were travelling home on bus 97. We were sitting in the front row, top deck, talking and suddenly this lady came to us and asked if she could sit with my colleague. We asked why and she pointed to this Bangala (yawn, whats new?) 2 seats behind us and said the Bangala kept talking to her and just now, even touched her shoulder.

The Bangala moved 1 seat forward to directly behind my colleague and the lady (who now sat beside my colleague) and he was so atrocious! He put his arm through the grip on top of my colleague's seat so that she cannot lean back or her back would touch his arm.

We asked him to **** off and he claimed that he was the lady's friend.

I was damn stupid. I asked the lady, "Is he ur friend?"

My colleague smacked me on the head and said, "Obviously not right!"

The Bangala continued to mumble under his breath and my poor colleague could not lean back.

I went downstairs to tell the bus driver. I took my bag and pretended to alight.

The bus driver was SO heroic! All i did was to tell him,
"Uncle, upstairs got this guy keep disturbing us."


He stopped the engine, explained to the downstairs ppl abt the situation, stormed upstairs and pointed at the Bangala and told him in a thunderous voice,
"YOU! GO SIT BEHIND."


Bangala replied the same sentence meekly, "She my friend."
"GO SIT BEHIND OR I CALL POLICE!"


Bangala mumbled and moved 1 seat.
"TO THE BACK."


He finally moved far away and the lady kept saying thanks to me and I could sense a this natural high from helping ppl who appreciated it. =)


The one below is a seemingly paltry case that occurred in a train, but equally unethical, none the less.



On the MRT this guy on my right sat far too close to me. His butt crossed that line that indicates ur space. He is actually very skinny, so there was no excuse for doing that... He then promptly fell asleep and i tolerated this as i didnt want to give up my seat. A few stops later the person to the guy's right got up and i went to sit down on his seat. When he woke up 2 minutes later, imagine his surprise when he saw me on the wrong side of him! Too late to shift to the right now, hahaha...


We would like to hear from you! Please share with us stories (though it would be better if none of them existed in this world) like the above. Or it could be one you heard from your friend, anything at all. This is important because it serves to warn the other women of the way these filthy creatures work.

For example, my friend once told me about how people will throw eggs at your car’s windshield and how you shouldn’t stop the car to clean because these people will use this advantage to rob you. Totally unrelated to sexual harassment, I know, but just to let you know that if you speak out, people will know about it and they will grow aware.

No matter how small (ogling at your breasts, touch your hand) or how big (a guy masturbating near you, touching you with his genital), do not be afraid to post it here. We will not judge you, nor will we say that your stories disgust us, not appropriate etc. You can leave it anonymously or under a pseudonym.

NOTE: NONSENSE COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sexual harassment SUCKS.

It's disgusting what molesters can do. My case is not that serious but I have friends who been through worse.

It does happen very often on public transport. This Malay guy pretended to fall and grabbed my hand. But the way he grab is so...not like accident.

So there. That's my story.

Anonymous said...

May Zhee, you have my full support for your project . . .

I was a victim once too. My incident is quite similar to Xiaxue. I made the mistake of taking a bus home at night alone.

This man who just only hopped on the bus approached me. There were so many other seats but he purposely chose the one beside me! And then he pretended to stand, until the bus started moving, just so he can pretend to sit on my lap!!!

I swear! It’s obvious he’s doing it on purpose!!!

Since my stop was near, I just quickly got off the bus. I didn’t tell anyone about it, except my friends. The guy totally freaked me out!

Anonymous said...

My friend told me about this Indian taxi driver who often talks dirty whenever he sends female passengers.

He makes dirty jokes about 'taking you home and paying for sex' and things like that.

If I were there I would not have hesitated to bash him up. If you ever see this man, please report him to the authorities.

Anonymous said...

My friends were groped on KTM once. Horrible experience. >.<

Anonymous said...

Hey, this is a competition right?
Erm, while I had no experiences before, I guess I could try to help another way right?? Right???

I noticed quite a few grammatical mistakes in the blog. No doubt just an oversight on your part. :)

Anonymous said...

This guy took a photo of my legs on the bus once. That counts as sexual harassment too right?

A bit confused about what it covers.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, yes that is included in sexual harassment.

I support you, May Zhee. =)

Maybe you should explain a bit what sexual harassment covers. Some people arre still in the dark.

May Zhee said...

Ann Jie, haha thanks for the support then!

And to the rest, thanks for your stories!

Alex...hmmm, okay I'm trying to figure how to do that without making people fall asleep. Haha.

May Zhee said...

Oh yah, let me post about my friend, Shieh Ying's case.

It's really damn horrible.

She was taking the bus, standing, when this foreign worker stood really close behind her. Then he started to rub his penis up and down her back.

SO DISGUSTING, RIGHT?! WHERE GOT SUCH PEOPLE ONE, YOU TELL ME?!

I really don't know what pleasure they derive from this. Ew.

Anonymous said...

Hey, May Zhee! I support you!! =)

Anonymous said...

Hi......
i gave my full support to tis project d.....
but still , its very interesting (tis blog)

hope u update it every day......
Gambateh !!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

yeah. one time got this CHINESE uncle trying to rape me while inside an elevator in ang mo kio.

Anonymous said...

hi guys! i support your project 100%!

but lets acknowledge that sexual harrasment is committed by people of all races, ages and backgrounds.

 

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