By Mariam Mokhtar
TWO courageous Malaysian women, housewife Nini Seron and former university student Cassandra Chung, took it upon themselves to report a wrongdoing and to highlight something that is deemed to be criminal.
What subsequently happened to both women is shocking and unacceptable.
Their stories show the decline and loss of values in our society. The harassment reflects the arrogance of our leaders who use thugs to bully and scare others with threats of violence.
Now is NOT the time to keep quiet. Now is the time to show our leaders that enough is enough. Now is also the time to stand in solidarity with Nini and others like her.
Nini’s story
Housewife Nini Seron lodged a police report, against the Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor and his aides for allegedly violating the strict rules on the standard operating procedure (SOP) during current total lockdown.
Nini had taken her cue from the National Security Council’s (NSC) Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob who urged the public to alert the authorities if they observe someone breaking SOPs.
Malaysia has seen a dramatic rise in COVID-19 infections because many have been careless, disregarded the SOPs set and ignored social distancing orders.
The rakyat is afraid for themselves and their families. They are alarmed by the double standards of politicians and celebrities, both of whom have broken the law with impunity.
When Nini saw the Kedah MB at a car showroom in Penang – allegedly inspecting a Ford Raptor and then taking it for a spin in an alleged test drive – she did what she felt was her civic duty.
She took photographs and a video recording of the MB, then reported the incident to the police. She saw what she felt was a clear infringement of the lockdown rules.
Nini only lives a few miles from where the incident had taken place and she is confident that the person who broke the SOPs was the Kedah MB. She said that during the total lockdown she had observed salesmen and customers breaking the SOPs despite NSC’s orders.
One would have thought that after she had performed her civic duty, the police would then follow up on the report; however, what happened after was totally unexpected.
Strangers targeted Nini and her family by making vile threats and accusing her of slander. They didn’t just attack her but also pounced on her husband, her children and relatives.
Nini does not understand why her family should be bullied and admitted that they felt pressure from being harassed. She even asked, “What did we do wrong?”
As if it wasn’t enough to intimidate and ridicule her as well as her family, the cyberbullies shared personal details of her family on social media and circulated photos of family (her husband, her son and her sister).
It is alleged that the cyberbullies are supporters of the Kedah MB. They represent all that is wrong with Malaysia. They sent Nini hate messages and issued threats on her Facebook personal account and her husband’s business page.
Such was the vitriol that her husband was forced to deactivate his business page after his mobile telephone number and pictures of his customers were circulated.
Meanwhile, Nini has received the support of Sisters in Islam who have told the cyberbullies to stop their vile threats.
Nevertheless, Nini’s courage and sense of responsibility is something she shares with Cassandra Chung, a former student of the University Nottingham.
Cassandra’s story
In 2016, Cassandra initiated a petition and debate to have a two-metre-high portrait of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak removed from the King’s Meadow Campus at Nottingham.
Overseas Malaysian students had been increasingly alarmed by various news reports that Najib had been involved in high level corruption in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal. They believed that the Malaysian Government was covering up for him. Many students supported Cassandra’s action.
However, when the students got wind that a delegation from the Malaysian High Commission would travel from London to Nottingham for the debate, support for Cassandra fizzled out.
Many overseas Malaysian students were aware that during talks by Opposition politicians, a visiting Bersih delegation or attending protests against Najib’s administration, members of the Special Branch plant themselves among the audience and secretly record video footage of everyone, especially of the more vocal students.
It is alleged that letters are then sent to the students, who are funded by the Government, containing threats to revoke their scholarships.
Sadly, Cassandra’s attempt to conduct the debate failed to have its desired impact because Malaysians were too scared to attend the meeting or to sign the petition.
Cyberbullies defend leaders
These scare tactics are commonly used in Malaysia as to what happened to Nini and experienced by Cassandra who was located overseas.
It was also alleged that while Cassandra was organising the debate, her family members in Malaysia were targeted by Najib’s supporters. Their personal details as well as home addresses were released and threats were allegedly made against them.
The extent of Malaysia’s moral decay can be summed-up by the retaliation against those who criticise a leader’s wrongdoing.
Will the Kedah MB issue an appeal to the cyberbullies to desist from their insults? Or will his ego prevent him from doing this because he feels slighted by the police report lodged by an ordinary member of the rakyat?
Will the NSC take action against the cyberbullies?
More importantly, how committed is this Perikatan Nasional administration in taking action against cyberbullies? – June 12, 2021
Mariam Mokhtar is a socio-political commentator.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
