Incident at B'n'B goes viral
Published on: Sunday, February 19, 2012
Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Backpacker Operators Association regrets inaction by police in arresting an Arab who assaulted two other fellow tourists and the receptionist of a Bed and Breakfast centre for "not observing Islamic values."Its President Tommy Chaw said "their failure to do something to protect society is a very bad image for tourists and locals alike." The whole episode has been uploaded on YouTube and has been getting increasing hits similar to an assault incident involving a fast food outlet (in KL).
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"This is a serious issue which could affect the tourism line, especially those into Bed and Breakfast, which is actually doing very well in Kota Kinabalu," he said, Saturday.Fellow Association member, Richie Lee, said: "It is a serious matter when the police fail to do something despite having a report lodged by the victim and when the police claim they cannot do anything because the assailant is a foreigner."The target of the Arab's anger was a Canadian tourist who apparently gave a peck on the cheek of his Chinese girlfriend in the common sitting room of the centre at 6.26pm on Feb. 9.This so infuriated the Arab who scolded the duo that this was an Islamic country. "The Arab scolded them saying what they did was disrespectful in an Islamic country. When the couple tried to calm him down, he kicked the couch before trying to hit them," said the receptionist, Dewina Jolilin, 22.
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"That was when I intervened, telling him it was not necessary to shout or be violent," said Dewina. He then turned his fury on Dewina, saying she should have done something to stop them since she was a Muslim. "He then attacked me when I told him that Muslims in Malaysia don't behave like him," she said. When the couple came to her aid, they ended up being attacked by the man as well.
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Dewina said police were summoned and came 10 minutes later. "They advised us to lodge a report, which I did accompanied by the couple. "However, the police said they could not detain or investigate the assailant as the law did not allow it unless he had used a sharp object during the attack," she said.Canadian Daniel Gunn, 30, who was visiting Sabah for the first time, said he had been to many countries but that this was the first time he was attacked by a supposed fanatic."He was screaming that 'this is a public place' and 'bring your prostitute somewhere else', 'this is Islam country and not your country'. I tried to calm him down but he began to behave even worse. "At that point, Dewina confronted him and he decided to attack her also and challenged her to call the police. I realised I had a cellphone and started recording everything. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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