From Social Media To Police Station: MP Young Syefura Othman Takes on Scammers And Harassers
She hoped that action will be taken against all scammers and sexual harassment cases in the country and encouraged victims of sexual harassment crimes to come forward regardless of gender.
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Young Syefura Othman, the Bentong MP, has reported two fraud cases and sexual harassment against a social media influencer to the Bentong District Police Headquarters (IPD).
The first report, made through her special officer, involved a fraud case where an individual claimed to be her representative for the organization of an income-generating program through Instagram.
The second report was against an influencer who made sexist and obscene statements that she considered sexual harassment in a video uploaded to TikTok and Instagram accounts.
The video went viral and was shared by many other parties.
I am open if anyone disputes my views and political ideology. Each of us is entitled to our views, but what this influencer did was a personal attack and affected my reputation and honour as a woman and Member of Parliament.
Young Syefura Othman on the attack having negative consequences for her reputation and dignity as both a woman and a Member of Parliament.
She hopes that action will be taken against all criminals of ‘scammers’ and sexual harassment cases in the country and encourages victims of sexual harassment crimes to come forward regardless of gender.
In the meantime, some people on the internet have shown support for Young Syefura.
@thaqibshaker #seksis #ybyoungsyefura #ybrara #kedah @Young Syefura ♬ original sound – Thaqib
We have been made aware of a distressing incident involving a TikTok influencer who allegedly harassed YB @youngsyefura on his TikTok content. This behaviour is deeply worrying, as it poses a serious threat to women in the digital realm, making it an unsafe space for them.
— StandUp Malaysia (@standup_my) July 19, 2023
The First Malay Bentong MP
Young Syefura, also known as Rara, was elected Bentong MP in November 2022 after serving as Ketari assemblywoman in Pahang from May 2018 to November 2022.
The DAP lawmaker has served as her party’s Deputy Youth Chief since March 2022.
She is also the first Malay elected MP for the Bentong parliamentary constituency.
Young Syefura defeated four-term Bentong MP, then MCA president Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai, in the 2022 general election.
Since the Bentong constituency was formed in 1959, the area has always seen a Chinese representative.
MCA’s Chan Siang Sun won the seat in 1959 under Perikatan and held the seat for 30 years until 1989, after which Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek, former MCA deputy president, won for three terms.
Liow then took over and continued to defend the seat for Barisan Nasional (BN) for four terms before losing to Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Wong Tack in 2018.
This was a significant victory for DAP, as Bentong had been a traditional stronghold for BN.
The Bentong Blackout Saga
During the 13th general election, on 5 May 2013, Astro AEC show host Gan Jiang Han posted on his Facebook page alleging a blackout in Bentong that day.
This post sparked controversy and was covered by major Chinese dailies.
However, the rumour was later debunked, and it was reported that Bentong had no blackout that day.
TNB confirmed no power outages in Bentong during the election period, and the Election Commission also confirmed that the voting process was unaffected.
Some people speculated that the post by Gan was politically motivated, while others believed it was a genuine mistake.
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