She says the woman officer was rude to her wheelchair-bound mother and asked what ethnicity they belonged to at KLIA.

PETALING JAYA: When we return to our home countries after some time away, among the first people we meet are the warm and welcoming immigration officers.

However, this was not the case for Gillian Benjamin, who claimed to have endured a horrid experience at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Tuesday.

Gillian, in a Facebook post, alleged that an immigration officer was unusually rude to her wheelchair-bound mother, and that the officer even questioned her ethnicity.

She said the officer rudely shouted at her parents from a short distance away, asking them to move over to the next counter.

When confronted for being rude by Gillian’s friend, Qhal, the officer shouted at him, saying, “I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to them.” (Saya tak cakap kat kamu! Saya cakap kat dorang!)

“What’s wrong with you? Are you lost? What ethnicity are you?” the Immigration officer added, still addressing Qhal.  (You kenapa? Sesat ke? You orang apa?)

Qhal then responded saying that he was Malaysian. He also pointed to Gillian’s parents and said they were ‘our parents’.

To that, the officer replied, “How would I know? I thought they were Chinese! Look at the way she’s (Gillian) dressed, how would I know?” (Mana saya tahu! Saya ingat orang Cina! Dia pun pakai macam tu mana saya tahu?)

Gillian condemned the officer’s comments, pointing out that she did not understand the connection between race and the way she was dressed, and also what does being Chinese have to do with they way they were being treated.

“What does Chinese have to do with the way I dress? A singlet top with shorts? What does Chinese have to do with how you yell at OKU (disabled) and senior people?” Gillian said in a Facebook post.

The post has since gone viral with almost 2,000 shares on Facebook.

Speaking to FMT, Gillian hoped that her post could be a lesson to everyone and that they would show respect to senior citizens and citizens with special needs, especially those of different races.

“There is no reason to show your temper and act rudely towards anybody no matter where they come from or what race or religion they are. It is wrong to use your power against anyone, like in my case, ‘threatening’ us by asking a male officer who was attending to my parents to get our passport number, when we clearly did not break any law.

“Immigration officers are one of the first people a visitor or citizen sees when they enter Malaysia, and to have someone working there treating you or your parents in such a rude manner is something unacceptable. I have never encountered such treatment.

“I am not here to seek for sympathy or to bring up any race issue. I also have no issue with the rest of the immigration staff who have been doing their job well. The reason I made this statement is because I want to be given fair respect,” said Gillian.

She added that she had not received any calls from the immigration department or the officer involved.

“I hope the lady officer will apologise to my mother, my father, my sister and myself for her unacceptable behaviour,” she said.

Yesterday, Sinar Harian reported that Immigration Department Director-General Mustafar Ali had confirmed that the case was being investigated.

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post today, Gillian expressed her gratitude to those who have supported her in this issue.

She reiterated that her initial posting was not meant to hurt anyone.

“I love my Malay friends, I love my Chinese friends, I love my Indian friends, I love my outsider friends and there is no bad intention. What I wrote was simply her words that were used by her towards us,” Gillian posted.

“I’m a Kadazan Eurasian, I’m a Malaysian! I’m a sports person. My race or my dressing have nothing to do with the way she treated us,” she added.

Resource : Free Malaysia Today