No Mingling of the Sexes: Bus Company Separates Passengers

(Malay Mail Online) – KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 ― 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.

Speaking to Malay Mail Online, the company said it made the decision to provide comfort and safety for female passengers, following concerns over sexual harassment against the group.

“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 Noorlini Ramli, the owner and co-founder of KRZ Management Sdn Bhd that manages the TransMalaya fleet.

Citing safety, TransMalaya express buses segregate male, female passengers https://t.co/ZD4oZWx75I pic.twitter.com/MICBkXOA3d

— Zurairi AR (@zurairi) December 28, 2016

Noorlini said the initiative was taken following her own negative experience as a lone traveller, and witnessing couples act in buses in ways she deemed inappropriate.

“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.

'Tunjuk surat nikah untuk duduk bersama dalam TransMalaya Ekspres'#BHPlus https://t.co/yhIjwvuW2k pic.twitter.com/6ASdT06XRX

— Berita Harian (@bharianmy) December 27, 2016

“These were the basis of our initiative today. Single female travellers are usually exposed to more danger. We put ourselves in our passengers’ shoes,” she added.

Despite that, Noorlini said none of TransMalaya’s passengers had complained of harassment prior to the move.

Read Original Article Here