Student told to ‘listen’ zips lips on Sharifah Zohra’s latest snub

By Opalyn Mok January 22, 2013

GEORGE TOWN, Jan 22 – Bawani K.S. has declined comment on the woman who told her to “listen” who has snubbed a second chance to speak at a student forum tonight, saying she will leave it to the organisers to interpret Sharifah Zohra Jabeen Syed Shah Miskin’s rejection of their invitation. Sharifah Zohra, dubbed the “Listen” woman after her outburst, was also alleged to have been invited to share the same stage by the organiser, student group Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM), but her organisation, Suara Wanita 1 Malaysia (SW1M), yesterday confirmed Sharifah Zohra will not be attending the “Academic Freedom and Fundamental Rights” forum. “I have no comment on this,” the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) law student told The Malaysian Insider when asked to respond to Sharifah Zohra’s skipping out on the chance for a second face-off. Bawani said she had no comments. – File pic The 27-year-old at the centre of a storm over the viral “Listen” video confirmed that she will be speaking at a forum in Kuala Lumpur to push for free tertiary education and freedom of speech. The “Academic Freedom and Fundamental Rights” will kick off at 8pm tonight at the Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. Ema Lee Abu Samah, a member of SW1M’s supreme council, told The Malaysian Insider yesterday that Sharifah Zohra will not turn up at the forum. She added that her organisation had also lodged a police report accusing SAMM members of breaking into SW1M’s office. A letter that purportedly bore Sharifah Zohra’s signature and SW1M’s stamp of acknowledgement, dated January 18 had been posted on news portal Harakah Daily as proof of her acceptance of SAMM’s invitation. Sharifah Zohra, who is widely seen as a staunch Barisan Nasional (BN) supporter, had come under heavy public fire for her treatment of Bawani at the UUM forum last month, which was uploaded on YouTube on January 11. The recording of her telling Bawani to ‘listen’ a whopping 11 times catapulted her into the limelight and turned her into Malaysia’s latest Internet sensation overnight, sparking memes online and parodies mimicking her public outburst. Sharifah Zohra, the president of SW1M, had emerged from hiding after being hit by brickbats over her treatment of Bawani on Sunday to declare on Youtube that she forgives Bawani and others who had jumped onto the bandwagon to mock her “without checking their grounds or getting their facts right”. In a Youtube posting on Sunday—seen to be the first defence made in her own right—Sharifah Zohra said that she forgives Bawani and others who had jumped onto the bandwagon to mock her “without checking their grounds or getting their facts right”. A copy of her statement was also posted on a SW1M’s member’s blog. She also said the video clip that went viral showed only one part of the student forum that was held at UUM last December 8 and described it as an attempt by oppositon-backed groups to twist the facts without giving the complete picture and draw a negative portrait of her. She added that the issue had been spun to “gather emotional support for an opposition-led party” but did not mention the name.