Two 19-year-old students of Southern University College have claimed that they were sexually molested by several BN supporters during caretaker Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's function at their university yesterday.
Declining to be named, the two recalled the assault to Malaysiakiniwhen met in Johor Bahru early today, together with two of their friends.
Najib was at Southern University College in Skudai, Johor, to perform the ground-breaking ceremony for its new campus, and the two girls were assigned as 'etiquette angels' to present Najib with a pen to sign a plaque.
"The ceremony was carried out on a platform in the field. We were wearing cheongsam.
"Together with other students dressed in the traditional costumes of their communities, we were to accompany Najib into the university hall after the ground-breaking ceremony," said the first girl, who preferred to be referred to as ‘X'.
However after Najib and some media photographers got on the platform, a group of young male supporters clad in blue BN t-shirts also squeezed onto the platform, X said.
She said she and her friend, who Malaysiakini will refer to as ‘Y', were also standing on the platform, but were pushed away from Najib by his supporters, who surrounded him.
The rowdy supporters then entered the campus together with Najib on their motorcyhcles.
"The place was very packed. We couldn't even reach the prime minister to pass the pen to him, so we passed it to his aide.
"Then someone touched my backside. I told her (Y) 'someone is touching me'... Too many people were there and we could not make out the molester.
"We just wanted to stand firm because we nearly fell a couple of times because of the packed crowd and because we were wearing high heeled shoes. We could not move, it was just too crowded," X said.
"He touched my backside with his palm... I knew, for he touched me with his palm, firmly... We were both wearing cheongsam in a thin fabric, you should know... I could feel the fingers."
However, she could not turn around to see who the molester was because the situation was chaotic.
Declining to be named, the two recalled the assault to Malaysiakiniwhen met in Johor Bahru early today, together with two of their friends.
Najib was at Southern University College in Skudai, Johor, to perform the ground-breaking ceremony for its new campus, and the two girls were assigned as 'etiquette angels' to present Najib with a pen to sign a plaque."The ceremony was carried out on a platform in the field. We were wearing cheongsam.
"Together with other students dressed in the traditional costumes of their communities, we were to accompany Najib into the university hall after the ground-breaking ceremony," said the first girl, who preferred to be referred to as ‘X'.
However after Najib and some media photographers got on the platform, a group of young male supporters clad in blue BN t-shirts also squeezed onto the platform, X said.
She said she and her friend, who Malaysiakini will refer to as ‘Y', were also standing on the platform, but were pushed away from Najib by his supporters, who surrounded him.
The rowdy supporters then entered the campus together with Najib on their motorcyhcles.
"The place was very packed. We couldn't even reach the prime minister to pass the pen to him, so we passed it to his aide.
"Then someone touched my backside. I told her (Y) 'someone is touching me'... Too many people were there and we could not make out the molester.
"We just wanted to stand firm because we nearly fell a couple of times because of the packed crowd and because we were wearing high heeled shoes. We could not move, it was just too crowded," X said.
"He touched my backside with his palm... I knew, for he touched me with his palm, firmly... We were both wearing cheongsam in a thin fabric, you should know... I could feel the fingers."
However, she could not turn around to see who the molester was because the situation was chaotic.
Fear of more attacks
The second student, Y, said a young BN supporter in a blue t-shirt rubbed his crotch hard against her buttocks.
"I kept trying to move forward to avoid him but I could not move. I turned back and stared at him.
"He smiled, he looked young, 20 something," Y said.
The incident lasted for about one minute, each claimed.
X said that she kept telling Y to leave the platform, but the two could not as so as the platform was too packed.
Only when Najib left the platform were they able to free themselves from the crowd.
The second student, Y, said a young BN supporter in a blue t-shirt rubbed his crotch hard against her buttocks.
"I kept trying to move forward to avoid him but I could not move. I turned back and stared at him. "He smiled, he looked young, 20 something," Y said.
The incident lasted for about one minute, each claimed.
X said that she kept telling Y to leave the platform, but the two could not as so as the platform was too packed.
Only when Najib left the platform were they able to free themselves from the crowd.
"We ran to the hall because there were many more BN supporters clad in blue T-shirt sitting on the floor, smoking. We reached the hall faster than the prime minister as we afraid other bad things could happen to us.
"We ran to the hall to see if we knew any people there, and the hall was also safer. We related the incident to our friends and three male friends then escorted us to the car park for us to leave the campus," X said.
Asked why they left the campus immediately, X replied that they worried the BN supporters would spot them again. And they had also heard that a number of other female students in the crowd had also been molested.
The two girls were furious when they recounted the abuse.
"We did not get any reward for being on duty. We were volunteers. Initially, we were very happy because it would be a good chance for us to get close to (Najib) and may be even take a picture with him.
"We were very helpless that time, nobody heard us," said X.
However, the girls said they do not blame Najib for what happened and stressed that the attack had nothing to do with politics.
"We ran to the hall to see if we knew any people there, and the hall was also safer. We related the incident to our friends and three male friends then escorted us to the car park for us to leave the campus," X said.
Asked why they left the campus immediately, X replied that they worried the BN supporters would spot them again. And they had also heard that a number of other female students in the crowd had also been molested.
The two girls were furious when they recounted the abuse.
"We did not get any reward for being on duty. We were volunteers. Initially, we were very happy because it would be a good chance for us to get close to (Najib) and may be even take a picture with him.
"We were very helpless that time, nobody heard us," said X.
However, the girls said they do not blame Najib for what happened and stressed that the attack had nothing to do with politics.
University authorities investigating complaint
They have since filed an official complaint with their university student council, but have yet to decide whether to lodge a police report.
"We want justice. We deserve an explanation," said X, adding that they want the authorities to find the molesters and take action against them.
Contacted today, Southern University College president Thock Kiah Wah said he has been told about the incident and the university was investigating it.
"We will first deal with the matter internally," Thock said.
The college is established and funded by the Chinese Malaysian community.
Najib announced during the event that the government would reserve a plot of land in Iskandar Malaysia for under-enrolled Chinese schools to relocate there.
"We want justice. We deserve an explanation," said X, adding that they want the authorities to find the molesters and take action against them.
Contacted today, Southern University College president Thock Kiah Wah said he has been told about the incident and the university was investigating it.
"We will first deal with the matter internally," Thock said.
The college is established and funded by the Chinese Malaysian community.
Najib announced during the event that the government would reserve a plot of land in Iskandar Malaysia for under-enrolled Chinese schools to relocate there.
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