KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 — A company director who grumbled on Facebook about a security guard who refused him and his wife a bay at KLCC’s “ladies-only” parking zone gained instant Internet infamy after his post on the incident went viral.
Internet users were quick to roast the man known as “Peter Cheng” for criticising the guard for doing her job and for feeling “entitled” to special privileges because he claimed to have spent RM700 at the popular city mall.
Overnight, Cheng, who is said to be the director of a leading construction firm’s engineering arm, made it to third place on Twitter’s Malaysia trends, became the subject of several Internet memes and after issuing an apology and deactivating his Facebook account, still found himself hunted down on other networking sites like LinkedIn.
“So he apologised… But I wonder if it’s a case of succumbing under public pressure and managing reputational risk. Hmm,” one Facebook user wrote.
“He apologised for offending people. Not for his act. Just saying,” another user said.
“To be more precise, he posted a status update on FB. Has he actually apologised to the one person he should… i.e. the security guard?” asked one user.
“Yup. Seems like to me he apologised bcoz he knew ppl are offended not bcoz he knows what he did was wrong,” said another.
In the post from yesterday, the man known as “Peter Cheng” said he was taking his wife shopping for the coming Chinese New Year celebration and had wanted to use the empty bays at KLCC’s women’s parking zone when a female guard waylaid them.
When the guard refused to budge after he explained that he was driving his wife to the mall, Cheng said he told his partner to take over the wheel instead. But the guard again insisted on blocking their path, saying this time that it would not be fair on other single female drivers.
It was only after a shouting match ensued, he said, that the guard relented. He said he tried to take the woman’s picture but she walked away quickly.
“So brothers & sisters, why do even bother to go shopping in KLCC if they employ guards like this????? At the ladies entrance, other male shoppers were going in with no problems.
“Incidentally we spent over Rm700.00 please help me share this and raise their management’s awareness,” he wrote.
Cheng also posted three photographs of the security guard in his complaint although none appeared to show her face, which was partly hidden by a headscarf.
Malay Mail Online spotted Cheng’s posting in a screenshot put up yesterday on the page of Facebook user JengYean Won, whose own post has at the time of writing garnered more than 1,000 likes and shared over 700 times.
A search for Cheng’s name on Facebook is categorised as “popular” with more than 80,000 people “talking about this”.
In his apology that was also reposted by JengYean Won, Cheng admitted that his remarks were offensive and said he had not meant for the post to hurt anyone.
“KLCC PARKING — I believe I do owe everyone an apology. What I said is in poor taste and offended so many. This was never my intentions, and I do sincerely apolgise (sic) to everyone I’ve offended.. Peter Cheng,” he wrote.
Cheng’s wife also came to her husband’s defence and issued an apology of her own, admitted that she had been the one who told her partner to park in the women’s parking zone.
“I am Peter Cheng’s wife and I have to apologise as well because I myself asked my husband to park there (we saw lots of other couples parking there also, so we previously assumed it was alright) and whoever we offended. We would like to owe a great big apology and hope this can be put to rest in everyone’s minds soon. Thanks,” she wrote.