After Driver Who Wanted Sex, MCA Women Go After Male Secretary Of Tour Group

Written by  Melissa Lee

In its most stinging comments so far, the women's wing of MCA slammed the male secretary of a tourism association for sexist remarks and unmanliness after he implied that the practise of forcing female tour guides to share hotel rooms with male colleagues was not a serious matter.

"Cost saving at the expense of women's security is a very shameful practice. Tai’s gender bias mentality has caused more women to suffer indirectly. Female tour guides are often afraid of losing their jobs because they do not dare confront the old system," Chew Lee Giok (pic), Wanita MCA secretary-general said in a statement.

She was refering to Tai Poh Kim, the honorary secretary of the Malaysian Chinese Tourism association of Malaysia, who had allegedly said there were only 20 complaints in three years.

The risk of rape is not a new problem for women tour guides in the Malaysian industry, with the government accused of closing an eye to help employers save costs.

Getting Tough On Errant Firms

Just weeks, news reports of a bus driver trying to force himself on his female colleague sparked public outrage.

That spurred Chew's colleague, deputy Women's minister Heng Seai Kei into action. She took to task the Malaysian Women Tourist Guide Association for not 'educating' their members on laws that protected them.

But the association shot back, saying that the reality was that few women ever complained because they did not want to lose their jobs and secondly, the employers always managed to get away scot-free.

The association also urged the authorities to be stricter in their enforcement and to do more 'spot checks' as it was the only way to curb errant employers.

Against The Law, Licence Can Be Revoked

Meanwhile, Chew reminded that regardless of whether female tour guides had signed 'consent' forms, it was still illegal for a tour agency to book men and women staff into the same hote room.

"Even if there were only 20 complaints, the tourism associations and industries should remain vigilant to avoid recurrence of similar misdeeds over and over again. Such misdeeds have thrown the entire travel industry into question," said Chew.

"Regardless of whether the female tour guide signs a consent form, if it is found men and women share the same room, that is illegal and the tour agency’s licence is subject to revocation."

She further warned that the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents would expel members caught forcing men and women staff to share the same room. The Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association would also cancel the membership of the errant firms, she added.

Nonetheless, despite the blunderbuss, it is unclear if the 29-year old tour guide who was almost raped earlier this month has lodged a report against her employer and her colleague.

Her agency had arranged for her to share a room with the driver of the tour bus at a hotel in Malacca. The man, in his 50s, had the approached her for sex.

“I shouted ‘no’ and tried to use the blanket to cover myself but the driver, who was only wearing his underwear, still tried to sexually harass me and even kiss me,” said the victim.

It was only after she put up a struggle and threatened to leave the room that the driver promised not to harass her any more.

- Malaysia Chronicle

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