PETALING JAYA, Oct 1 — Local model Haneesya Hanee has long been the target of mean comments online, most of which take aim at her dark skin.
Following a fresh slew of Twitter posts that compared her skin tone to bubble tea and Hajarul Aswad (the Black Stone rock in Kaaba in the centre of the Grand Mosque in Mecca), the 19-year-old is taking a stand against cyberbullies with the help of her mother.
Two videos posted by Haneesya show her mum holding up a police report concerning offensive tweets made by users @akustikajalanan and @JefriiMY, who were given two weeks to issue a public apology or risk facing a lawsuit.
Haneesya dah penat bercakap so now let my mother talk.
— HaneesyaHanee (@HaneesyaHanee) September 29, 2019
Yall can mess with me but not with this lady’s daughter.
So to @akustikajalanan n @JefriiMY you hv 2 weeks from now to do a public apology if not my mom is taking this to the court. pic.twitter.com/0TcrG7LStw
Part 2. Sekian. pic.twitter.com/BeDY5nVXVg
— HaneesyaHanee (@HaneesyaHanee) September 29, 2019
In the clips, Haneesya’s mum pleads with social media users to stop harassing her daughter, adding that Haneesya has never shamed other people for their appearance or actions.
“Don’t play around, (Haneesya) is someone’s child!
“She’s a human, she has a heart and she has feelings. She stands up for other people, but what do you stand for?” she said.
Both Twitter users, @JefriiMY and @akustikajalanan issued public apologies shortly after Haneesya called them out but the tables quickly turned on them when their tweets came under fire for being insincere, with @akustikajalanan claiming now to be bullied.
Others also slammed them for even bashing Haneesya in the first place.
Assalamualaikum Haneesya dan keluarga. Berkenaan dengan perkara tersebut, saya sebagai pemilik asal akaun twitter @akustikajalanan dengan rendah diri memohon maaf secara terbuka dari kekhilafan dan kebiadaban saya tentang tweet pada 26 September 2019 pada jam 4:10pm. https://t.co/X0oN8Dt0pR
— amy rafael (@akustikajalanan) September 29, 2019
**I publicly apologize to @HaneesyaHanee and to your mother. I know my words hurt you a lot.
— Jefri Aduba de Janitor (@JefriiMY) September 29, 2019
It was during that heat of moment I slipped my hurtful words.
I am so sorry! I am sorry.
I am not being sarcastic urgh people just love to assume....
“I don’t know if Haneesya will be satisfied with this half-assed apology. I wouldn’t. Make a video so that she can hear your sincerity,” said Twitter user @topeqAG.
“You should apologise in person. You were so brave to do this, you should be brave enough to bear the consequences,” said @Qflamingrose.