A copy of a video in which a Singapore woman taunts a suicidal person has been circulating online. The original video, by Facebook user Mala Yono Don, was posted as a live video that has since been deleted but copies of the video are being re-posted online.
In the video, Mala describes the ordeal the suicide attempt had caused her and narrates that she was inconvenienced by the suicidal person. Although the video does not capture the person who attempted suicide, Mala can clearly be heard taunting the person in Malay. She said:
“We can’t go out right now because this idiot is wasting our time, trying to jump off the building. Because of him, the police closed off the area and we can’t go out. So inconsiderate, alamak. Can you tell him to jump down quickly?
“He’s just wasting my time, I can’t even go anywhere. If you want to jump, just jump. Don’t waste our time because we all need to go to work.”
You can never be more asian than this.
“If you want to jump, just jump; don’t waste our time cause we all need to go to work.”
Don’t commit suicide. Call 1800 221 4444 if you are depressed pic.twitter.com/1Mj37v3kMv
— Mahathir Ahmad (@MahathirAhmad) April 11, 2018
Interestingly, two others who are at the scene with Mala appear to share her sentiment. These people can be heard encouraging Mala to shoot the video and assuring her that they will share it on their social media pages.
The reactions to Mala’s video has, surprisingly, been mixed.
Some netizens excoriated Mala for her “sick and heartless” behaviour:
Others, however, took a different view and opined that the suicidal person was “simply seeking attention”.
One netizen said: “He (suicidal person) was simply seeking attention. If he wanted to kill himself, he would have jumped off the building long ago. There won’t be a need for police intervention. That makcik was right. There are so many suicide hotlines, but you still want to be a nuisance to others.”
Still others questioned the logic in Mala’s claims and questioned why she couldn’t get out of the HDB area using a different route:
