We’re always warned to think before we post. Mainly because the Internet has a nasty way of digging up buried (or deleted) skeletons.
Local singer Baby Shima (full name Norashima Ramli) recently came under fire for making fun of differently-abled activist Zhariff Afandi. Although she apologised and removed the video, netizens weren’t willing to let the matter die down.
Four days after she removed her video, Shima was startled to find clips of it being circulated on the Internet. Someone clearly wasn’t willing to let bygones be bygones. Amidst the backlash, the singer posted another video of her apologising to Afandi and explained that she had already taken responsibility for her actions. However, she was displeased with the poster who had “defamed and damaged (her) name and image.”
The 29-year-old publicly announced she would be taking action against them. Wednesday evening (31st March), Shima posted a picture of her standing outside the police station. The singer stated she had just spent 3 hours explaining the situation to the police. She made 2 reports about the issue being spread on Twitter and 1 report about being defamed on Instagram. “To whoever who uploaded the video to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or on other social media sites, please delete them in 48 hours or I will take legal action against you,” she warned.
The former “Big Stage” contestant clearly means business. To her credit, Shima had apologised and made it very clear she knew she was in the wrong. The singer emphasised that she had deleted the video 30 minutes after posting it, yet the culprit reuploaded it four days later. She suspects it was purposefully done and with malicious intent.
Shima also mentioned that Afandi had accepted her apology and swore she made the mistake unknowingly. “Don’t try to heat things up again,” she stated directing her post to “a certain male singer who doesn’t understand (Malay)“.
Most netizens are backing the singer up and encouraging her to stand strong amidst the turmoil. However, some are of the opinion that she should just leave it alone. With or without their encouragement, the singer obviously wants to defend her honour.
We hope the matter can be cleared for her sake. As netizens however, we probably should learn to stop starting fires and know when to let things die.
Here’s the video of Shima apologising to Afandi over the phone:
