London Paraglider Wakes Up To Tonnes Of Messages From Malaysian Teens
London Paraglider Wakes Up To Tonnes Of Messages From Malaysian Teens
RD Minion
Tue Nov 19 2019
Imaging waking up to tonnes of messages from social media users from a country you've never visited before.
Sounds strange? Well, that was exactly what happened to London-based artist and paraglider Laura Melissa Williams.
The reason?
She had accidentally caught the attention of Malaysia’s teenagers after they sat for the SPM English paper.
Accidental 'idol'
One of the English comprehension questions was about a fictional paraglider named Melissa who described her hitting a storm-cloud - described as "being tossed around in a washing machine" - and having to be rescued from the roof of a farm by villagers.
Following the exam, a student, for some reason, decided to Google the question and found out that the fictional character is actually a real person, after stumbling onto William’s social media account.
Hence, the hashtag "The real Melissa" was born.
"It's a bizarre set of coincidences that created the perfect storm and then went viral," Williams told BBC News.
She even found it funny at first because of the memes about washing machines and farms.
A post shared by Laura Melissa (@lauramelissawilliams) on
However, overtime, she began getting concerned when the comments became nastier and more sarcastic, whith some questioning 'Melissa' if she should even be paragliding in the first place.
"I checked with some Malay-speaking friends as I started worrying, I got a bit concerned about any threats - they just said it was mainly immature," she said.
Later, another hashtag, "Stop cyber-bullying Melissa" was created when local influencer Arwind Kumar posted a video asking the teens to stop what they are doing.
"There is a fine line between making a joke and being extremely rude,” he said in his video.
Again, Williams found herself flooded with apologies from Malaysian teens.
"I awoke to thousands of messages of apology, from students across Malaysia - some of whom posted nasty comments originally and now regret it and some who apologised on behalf of their cohort," she said.
She even received invitations to go to dinner in Malaysia, offers of gifts, and apologies from school teachers, influencers and the media.
Boys and girls, please do not cyber-bully someone, it's never cool!