Express Bus to M’sia Now Separate Male & Female Passengers Unless You’re Married

Male and female passengers who board long-haul bus operator TransMalaya Ekspres will be expected to sit separately if they are not family or married, even when they are non-Muslims. 

Due to sexual harassment against females, the decision was made to protect them with comfort and safety on the ride. 

“The point of this is to give an advantage to our female passengers because we have heard and read reports of how female travellers get molested by strangers, so we took this effort to give them a greater sense of security and comfort.”

“This is for both Muslim and non-Muslim. We simply want to avoid any untoward incidents,” said Ms Noorlini Ramli, the owner and co-founder of KRZ Management that manages the TransMalaya fleet.

Ms Noorlini said the initiative was taken due to her experience from travelling alone, and she also saw many couples behaving inappropriately on buses in full view to everyone. 

“I used to travel alone when I was a student at UiTM Jengka, and at that that time, I had to witness some couples behaving inappropriately in the bus in full view of other passengers and I had to sit beside a foreigner who started acting funny with me.”

She also mentioned that female passengers are more exposed to the dangers of sexual harassment so they had to put themselves in the shoes of these female passengers. 

Despite that, none of the passengers had complained of harassment prior to the move. Noorlini also claimed that this move was well-received by passengers regardless of race or religion. 

According to her, TransMalaya’s ticketing counter staff would first ask their female customers whether they are travelling alone, and subsequently offer them the appropriate seats. The women will sit on the right while the men will sit on the left.

“When our customers buy tickets from us, we would explain to them the seats available. Some will say they are okay with having a male sitting beside them while most will opt for the female seats,” Noorlini said. 

For Muslim couples who buy tickets together, they would be asked to produce their marriage certification for verification. 

However, there are also passengers who are against their conditions and demanded to sit together.

“When that happens, we will usually give them the front seats. We will try advising them against it, but if they do not accept our advice, then we give them the front seats so we can keep an eye on them,” she added. 

One thing to note is that during these journeys, most if not all the passengers are usually sleeping. So, what do you think? Yay or nay?

Featured image: themalaymailonline.com

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com