Netizens React To President of Gabungan Islam Se-Malaysia Imitating The Disabled Just To Get Parking At A Mosque

By Ameera Rosli  •  18 Sep 2020 in News

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It’s the year 2020 but people are still casually mocking and imitating the struggles of disabled people for personal gain? It seems like we have a long way to go…

Recently, a video went viral of the alleged president of Gabungan Islam Se-Malaysia (GAMIS) imitating the disabled (OKU) in order to secure a parking spot in-front of a mosque. The original tweet from @Dr_Zofrie2203 has since been deleted due to the backlash.

The tweet wrote, “For the sake of getting parking, one of our friends was sacrificed in order to become the leading actor.”

In the video, the man could be seen hunching his shoulder to fake a deformity. Take a look…

While the initial tweet has been deleted, the video was re-uploaded by Twitter user @UtusanMeloya which caused an uproar on the social media platform.

Here’s the clip.

TERGEMPAR

Presiden Gabungan Islam Se-Malaysia (GAMIS) ditangkap kerana menghina golongan OKU semata-mata ingin dapatkan parking kereta di Masjid.

“Ini jihad, nak redha tuhan ke redha manusia? Lihat je lah MB Kedah hina orang miskin, apatah lagi saya” Ujarnya. pic.twitter.com/apGQquC4yc

— Utusan Meloya (@UtusanMeloya) September 17, 2020

Of course, with such an incendiary video such as that, the backlash came pouring in and some netizens began to criticise him for being a bad Muslim since he took advantage of the disabled for his own convenience.

Take a look at what netizens have to say…

It’s 2020 and these kind of people still exist🤦🏻‍♀️ Being ableist is one thing, shamelessly joking and posting it is another level of idiocy. https://t.co/TKdOJCAsf0

— Aishah Amin (@AishahAmin8) September 18, 2020

Sebagai seorang bapa kepada anak yang mempunyai neurological deficits bertaraf OKU.

Apabila ‘kelainan’ upaya golongan dan anak² ini dijadikan bahan lawak oleh golongan sempurna seperti tuan di bawah. Saya sedih dan kecewa.

Mohon renunglah ayat di bawah. https://t.co/xoLym7QfTz pic.twitter.com/2k52FbbUwW

— Khairul Azri (@mkhairulazri) September 18, 2020

Even members of parliament have spoken out against this unacceptable behaviour.

Is this for real???

If it is, then it’s very unacceptable and disgusting! https://t.co/G3zhPliSAi

— Maszlee Malik 🇲🇾 (@maszlee) September 18, 2020

Disgusting 🤬 https://t.co/A0E1tLozgj

— Syed Saddiq 🇲🇾🌺 (@SyedSaddiq) September 18, 2020

The man in the video has since issued an apology on his Twitter, stating that he “didn’t mean to belittle the disabled” and that his actions did not represent the organisation he is a part of.

Assalamualaikum dan Salam Jumaat.

Saya Mohd Zofrie ingin buat permohonan maaf secara terbuka untuk semua khususnya golongan kurang upaya (OKU) yang telah melihat video saya bersama rakan di parking seperti di dalam video.

— Zofrie Zulhilmie (@Dr_Zofrie2203) September 18, 2020

Many found his behaviour disgusting and out-of-touch with the struggles of the OKU community.

To steal the opportunity of convenient parking from a marginalised community who needs it more than you so you could enter a mosque to perform a deed is oxymoronic.

This blatant display of ignorance is evidence that Malaysians need to continue to educate each other and keep one another in check when it comes to how we treat the disabled.