Four Malaysian tourists were victims of an alleged “racist attack” in Dublin.
According to a
Facebook post by former newscaster Norzie Pak Wan Chek, her niece was doing some last-minute shopping on Dec. 4 with a friend and her younger brother and sister before their early-morning flight back to Malaysia. Norzie told Malaysian news outlet
Says that the four are aged between 18 and 27.
The tourists were in a local restaurant when a group of teenage boys began harassing them, throwing empty cans and fries from the floor at the four.
As more boys joined the group of teens, the tourists left the restaurant and headed to the bus station on foot; however, the group followed and escalated their harassment.
The boys wouldn’t give up but quickly pursued and circled around them on their bicycles, occasionally braking hard near my niece and the rest to scare them. “I’ll f***ing kill you!” they threatened. Four boys removed their bicycle seatposts and started beating my niece at the back of her neck. My niece’s friend and brother quickly reacted by shielding her, not once laying a hand on the attackers as they were clearly outnumbered. The rest of the boys then stepped in and started punching the friend and my nephew in the arm, eyes and on their backs. The boys only left after my niece managed to dial 999 and got through to the police, while her younger sister screamed loudly for help. It was raining and dark.
After 30 minutes, police had not yet arrived. Instead, a Good Samaritan offered them a ride to the police station, which was only three minutes away.
Subscribe to
NextShark's Newsletter
A daily dose of Asian America's essential stories, in under 5 minutes.
Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories to your inbox daily for free.
Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive.
In a video, a group can be seen riding away on bikes as the tourists yell out for help.
Norzie said Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir, who had only been sworn-in the day before, personally contacted her and promised to take care of the four.
She wrote that the foreign minister called her within minutes after reaching out to the Wisma Putra, also known as the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Zambry had not officially begun his duties as foreign prime minister at the time.
“Shortly after, the Secretary General had deployed Wisma Putra officers and the Malaysian embassy staff in Dublin who were already calling me to get things done and fast,” she wrote in her post. “By 5am, the Chargè d’affaires in Dublin, Puan Nadzira Abd Razak and her colleague Thulianati Amira Zainal Abidin from
MW Dublin were already at the airport providing medical and boarding assistance for those travelling home.”
According to Says, Norzie was told by Dublin police that they were aware of the group of assailants as they are known nuisances. However, due to protections afforded to minors under local law, it is unlikely police will continue to pursue the case.
Related Stories:
