M'sian Man Shares How He Was Sexually Harassed In Support Of MRT's Women-Only Coaches

Facebook user Muhammad Harris Nasril said he decided to share his story after seeing too many insensitive comments from men mocking the women-only coaches on the Putrajaya MRT line.

"If you get harassed, just scream. Why stay silent?" he quoted many men saying when the initiative was first launched to prevent sexual harassment.

However, Harris said he fully supports the women-only coaches, believing that many women have been easily groped or harassed on the MRT, especially when the trains are packed.

"If even I, a man, froze up when I was harassed, how much more difficult must it be for a woman to speak out against a male harasser?" he pondered.

Then 36 years old, Harris was working in Brunei and often used private hire cars, known as prebet sapu in Malay, because he did not own a vehicle.

"In Brunei, there are many prebet sapu because public transportation is infrequent and the last bus ends early, around 9pm. These private drivers charge fares as low as RM1 to RM5 due to the subsidised petrol prices in the country," he explained.

One night, he got into the car of an uncle in his 50s, who struck up a friendly conversation during the ride home.

"Oh, are you Malaysian?" the uncle asked.

"Yes, I am. I just started working here," Harris replied.

"How long have you been working here?"

"I'm new here. About four months."

Harris said when he arrived at his rented home, the uncle asked him to save his phone number in case he ever needed another private hire, and Harris did.

One evening, as the uncle was driving him home again, he invited Harris to his house.

"Tomorrow is a holiday. Come to my house. We can sing karaoke," the uncle suggested.

"My voice isn't good, uncle."

"It's okay. We can watch movies together. I have many DVDs."

At that point, Harris said he felt the uncle's hand touching his thigh.

"He moved his hand from the top of my knee to the base of my thigh. I was stunned. I wanted to shout at him, but I couldn't make a sound. It was fear mixed with anger," Harris recounted.

"Even though he was old, he was still so lewd and smart to take advantage of my trust," Harris wrote.

He ended his Facebook post commending MRT for taking steps to combat sexual harassment, acknowledging how easily it could happen on mixed coaches and how helpless victims could feel if they were randomly groped.

1. WOMEN'S AID ORGANISATION (WAO)
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