KUALA LUMPUR – It is the end of the line for a staffer at a vaccination centre (PPV) here after it was discovered that he illegally obtained the phone numbers of women who turned up for the jab and sent them unsolicited messages.
The Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV) in a tweet last night said action has been taken against the man, believed to be attached to the army, by his agency, which has zero tolerance for such behaviour.
The armed forces tweeted yesterday that the case has been taken note of, and that an internal probe was launched after the matter first surfaced.
It is uncertain what kind of action was taken. The Vibes’ attempts to contact the army proved futile at the time of writing.
In the tweet that first shed light on the man’s actions, Twitter user Idris alleged that the World Trade Centre PPV staffer took his 18-year-old sister’s number without her consent.
He called for disciplinary action.
The authorities should know about this and issue punishment for violations of privacy. Women should not have to face these kinds of unwanted advances. Hope they take stern action. Hope more people know that this is not okay behaviour.”
His post was accompanied by a picture of the alleged harasser donning an army uniform, as well as a screenshot of the messages sent to his sister.
It appears that Idris’ sister is not the sole victim.
Following his post, several other users revealed that they, too, received texts from the same individual, with some sharing screenshots of the messages.
There were those who said the staffer tried to look at their MySejahtera details, but they did not allow this.
Hi! Same thing happened to my sister! It’s the same guy! Please take disciplinary action. He takes advantage by escorting those who (are) lost, then asks to check (details on their) second vaccine dose while he gets their phone number,” said @UwUmairahadi.
Another user, @ainnurhasmiza, shared the messages she received, with the accompanying comment “jantan gatal”.
The episode is not the first time that women have reported being harassed by personnel on duty at PPVs.
Since the start of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, multiple women have taken to social media saying they received text messages from on-duty staff – including those administering the jab – who got their contact details from MySejahtera or the vaccination forms they signed.
Despite many Malaysians slamming such actions as a breach of personal data and privacy, the issue remains.
Twitter user @r0cksen said she was subjected to harassment at the Ideal Convention Centre PPV in Shah Alam in May.
“It is very unprofessional to steal my number through (my) data without my consent! I hope disciplinary action will be taken, too. No one should go through this.”
It is unclear if the perpetrators besides the KL PPV staffer have faced disciplinary action. – The Vibes, July 15, 2021
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