Seeing an AF Being Harassed on the Subway | Asian Air Forum

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Seeing an AF Being Harassed on the Subway

I can still recall encountering one such incident myself when I was still a uni student, going home about 5pm in the afternoon, catching the train with all the other commuters going home from work. I remember there were these 3 white men (all about 5'6 to 5'8), who were on the middle section of the train (Sydney trains have 3 levels), they were a bit drunk carrying beer bottles in their hands. I was standing next to the pole in the same carriage as these men, but sitting opposite to them was this Chinese/Vietnamese girl, I remember these men were talking loudly, acting like idiots, and when the train approached the next station with some passengers getting off, I moved down to the bottom level of the train just to avoid these drunks, but as I was walking away, I heard these guys mumbling amongst themselves "look at the asian girlÖ" and one of the guys proceeded to sit next to her (since some passengers left, and there are spare seats), and I thought to myself, 'shes in deep shit'. So I sat at a spot downstairs very close to middle section where I was standing, so I could observe and be vigilant as to what goes on. This girl had her textbooks out on her lap, and she was trying to read, but this drunk kept harassing her by asking her questions about what she was reading....etc, as if he was interested. I said to myself, that if they lay just one finger on her, I am going up to thump this C**t, and when I say that I really mean it, its not because I want to be a hero or anything, Its because I know that a young Chinese/Vietnamese girl like her would have her parents at home wailing non stop if anything does happen to her, and I knew that a girl like her could easily have been my sister or daughter ( if I do have children that is), and at one point during that trip, she saw me and was looking at me showing distress and I think she knows that I know what was going on, but as it happened those guys didn't do touch her. I wanted to approach her and say to her , 'hey, there are some spare seats down here', but I am sure she was aware of it, since she could see down the staircase, and I wondered why she didn't move, maybe she was thinking that if she did, they would have acted in more abusive ways. But as it happened I could only watch because while I was willing to lend a hand, it would be ignorant to just go up and say 'hey dude, stop it', it would only incite violence on my part. But I am happy to say that she did leave the train safely. I don't know if there was anything more I could do, but I suppose you have to be careful how to handle situations like these, on the one hand you want to help, but on the other, you have to show good judgement, you wouldn't want to stir up violence unnecessarily, particularly if its in the U.S, where people carry guns.
To cut to the chase, I just want to urge my fellow asians to speak up about such events, we really can't afford to be passive about cases like these, I know its easier to say than do, but remember, if you turn a blind eye to a victim, don't expect someone to lend you a hand when your in trouble yourself.
by AM(23) from DownUnder

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READER COMMENTS

I read your story but and agree that people must stand up and defend others in trouble. But what I dont agree on is that this is an asian issue. It is a global issue. Girls are picked on no matter what there race, and the same goes for weak looking guys. It isnt really about race but about how defenceless the person looks that decides on who some of these drunken louts prey upon.

The same thing would happen with a white girl or a skinny white guy. It would also happen if you traveled to some of the asian areas out in Western Sydney but this time, instead of it being three white guys, it would be three asians.

My point is that race doesn't come into it and that when we live in a fair and just society we should aim to help anyone who is in trouble.
AM 19 Monday, September 30, 2002 at 04:44:58 (PDT) [129.94.6.30]