Troll who body shaming need to be stopped

KUALA LUMPUR - MCA's Ivone Low Yi had endured relentless bouts of body shaming from internet trolls since her political debut in 2013 as the old adage goes, sticks and stones may break bones but cruel words has never hurt her.

Instead, uncouth remarks had the opposite effect on her, Low -- who was MCA candidate for the Ampang parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15) -- grew stronger with every insults thrown at her.

"I was not even a candidate back then [in 2013], but I was attacked. I receive comments like; "how can the chair still stand strong?" as there was a picture of me standing on a chair while giving a speech.

"The attacks from then on became more severe.

"My pictures, without make-up on, were uploaded and they accused me of using filters. Everyone taunted me even my schoolmates and colleagues," Low recounted to Sinar Daily after sharing her GE15 experiences at forum here today.

It took nearly a year for Low to overcome her fear of appearing in public because she did not want a repeat of the "harrowing incident" ever again.

"It took nearly six to nine months for me to recover. I was 24 back then with five years experience in politics and I have never encountered such attacks in my career.

"I was reluctant to go out, moreover that time I was the public city biro chief for Wanita MCA where I must attend in all press conference.

"The attacks also made me fearful of stepping out of my house without make up. Luckily I overcame the situation and I also shed around 30 kilograms of weight," she added.

When asked on what should be done to overcome such issue in the future, Low urged the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to probe internet shamers.

"We should never tolerate body shamers, especially those who post photos and videos on the internet," Low stressed.