KUALA LUMPUR: A dispute over a double-parked car in Kuala Lumpur has gone viral recently, due to social media posts, threats of legal action, and then apologies. Malaysian netizens have felt compelled to weigh in as the story unfolded.
It began on Tuesday (March 31) at Wangsa Maju, when a woman named Ayu Noor Siah found that she could not back out of her parking spot because of the Perodua Ativa behind her vehicle, with no driver or owner in sight.
Though Ms Ayu honked her horn repeatedly because she needed to pick her child up, no one came to move the car. Finally, a group of men from an office nearby came to her aid, lifting the Perodua Ativa so that she could leave.
The incident was photographed and filmed, and pictures and videos were shared on social media. Netizens landed squarely on the side of the aggrieved mother, who had to wait allegedly for an hour under the heat of the sun so she could get to her child.
A Threads user asked, “What can we do to brainless people like these? Can we break the window to put the hand brake down?”
However, as it turned out, the Perodua Ativa sustained a bit of damage to its paint job. It was this, and perhaps because the incident had been spread online, that angered the owner of the vehicle, an Egyptian man named Mr Mohamad. He threatened legal action, saying in a social media post of his own that he would sue the people who spread his image online.
The plot thickened further when Ms Ayu apologised in another post, asking not only those who had posted about the incident, but also those who shared these posts, to delete them.
“As a result of the video going viral, Mr Mohamed lodged a report over my wrongdoing because I could not control my emotions,” she said, adding, “I damaged Mr Mohamed’s vehicle, and the purpose of this video is to apologise to him.”
She has also agreed to pay for the repair of Mr Mohamed’s car in full.
Her apology did not go well with netizens, many of whom pointed out that it was Mr Mohamad who had been in the wrong in the first place. Several said she should have stood her ground and even countersued him for double-parking.
Some called his behaviour “entitled” and added that if he is a business owner, he should be boycotted.
“He should also apologise to Madam for her mistake. I honestly cannot watch this video. Very biased!” a Threads user wrote.
Another who said they had been at the scene wrote that the woman had waited long for the car owner, almost damaging her horn to summon him, but the driver did not show up. “Damaging his car is wrong, but to me, we should also not be brainless, blocking other people’s cars without leaving phone numbers.” /TISG
Read also: Double-parked car blocks traffic, sparking public outrage; motorcyclist helps direct cars
