This entry is about a bad experience on my first day in Kuala Lumpur which hopefully will make you rethink about how we all should be more supportive of one another instead of looking away when something goes wrong.

On my first stroll around Kuala Lumpur I reached the main square of the old town by the time the skies became really dark and my gut feeling told me to stay put where I was until the rain is over. Sure enough the rain started minutes later.

I first had thought of using a bus stop as shelter but I moved on because it was a little hidden away and the bus drivers who parked their busses there stared a little too much for my liking.

Right on the middle of the square were two pavilions with a stone circle to sit on and a roof above it. At each entrance of the circle the stone bench was met by a stone pole. Around it were plants and trees that grew across the top making it semi water proof.

A few people already sat there when I joined just in time for the rain to start.

I calculated that with the rain only lasting roughly 30 minutes I am best of to simply sit there and wait it out.

Little did I know that it went on for nearly 4 hours.

After an hour or so it looked like the end was near so I decided to wait until the rain had stopped, figuring it would not be more than a few more minutes. I was still dry and wanted to stay that way to continue you sightseeing right after.

Unfortunately instead of nearly coming to an end it was only getting started.

For the next hour or so the already heavy rain turned into a complete monsoon like shot of water from the skies in a way that it took only a couple of seconds to be soaked to the bones. Worse still the thunderstorm that came loose then. It was the strongest and scariest I have ever experienced. Lightning struck all around us about every few seconds now, some right next to us so you could hear a massive bang from the electrical discharge, followed by a massive thunder I have never heard that loud as this.

The thunderstorm I experienced on the Pikes Peak in Colorado last summer was nothing compared to this.

So now I not only know what a hurricane feels like but can add a monsoon to that list. Now I am really starting to wonder about New Zealand and its reoccurring earthquakes recently.

I better start reading up on what to do in case of an earthquake.

The worst of this experience was not the weather though. I can deal with that. But it involved an Indian man who was sitting in the pavilion also.

When reading the following bear in mind we were on the main square of town with quite a few people around and I wasn't dressed in an indecent way (knowing I am in a Muslim country I try to avoid hassle!)

Yet this pig of a man managed to not only put his gender in a bad light but also caused me to dislike KL and reassured me that it would not be a good idea to go to India by myself.

The guy was sitting next to me along my quarter of the stone circle. It was long enough to not feel crowded on there.

Depending on the thickness of the leaves the roof was leaking in parts. I therefore did not think much of it at first when he kept on changing his position assuming he was trying to find the driest spot. Though with time passing it became more and more obvious that the rain was the least of his concerns. Instead he tried to find ways to move himself closer towards me. So whenever he ended up right next to me with our arms touching I moved a little further along the stone bench to get away from him. Only to realise minutes later that he was right next to me again. In the end it got to the point that I couldn't move any further because I reached the end of the bench and was leaning against the pole now. And still moments later there he was again right next to me now even stretching out so that his head was leaning on my hip. The only way out this time was to jump up and try and find another dry part under the pavilion.

If the monsoon and thunderstorm hadn't been going on the way it did I had long been gone but leaving the shelter did not seem to be a safe option. So I moved around the pole and tried to keep myself semi dry and out of risk from lightning and away from the guy.

Soon enough though there he was again standing right in front of me, staring at me.

It continued like that until I reached the opposite side of the Pavilion. By then I was slightly wet, cold and had several unwanted body contact with the Indian.

There were two more men, a Japanese tourist who made sure to keep himself to himself, and an older Malaysian man who at the end started talking to me.

The conversation was harmless it started about the weather and he told me that this is very unusual (climate change I guess). Simply a small talk you do with a tourist as a local. The old man stood next to me in a good distance and was a good barrier between me and the Indian fellow. Despite the old man not saying anything to the guy the way he made sure the Indian wasn't getting passed made me think he did know what was going on. I think that is why he started the conversation in the first place. He made a point later that it's not going to stop anytime soon and it is there for just a question of making a decision. Again in the way he said it he seemed to try encourage me to make a run for it.

By then the worst of the thunderstorm had passed and with Mr pervert suddenly standing right next to me again, creeping up from behind I thank the old man for the chat wished him a good day and ran.

Unfortunately I soon realised that the Indian guy was following me but did not manage to cross the road. A little further down the road I found a small shelter in front of a house and hid there for a little while until I couldn't see the Indian any more. He must have finally given up, not sure what I would have done if he hadn't.

When I was finally back at the hotel I was cold, trenched and had absolutely no ambition to go out into town again.

See the thing is this is not only about it being creepy, uncomfortable and simply disgusting but also about the fact that mostly people don't say or do anything about it. There were enough people there at a time to say something but didn't. The whole thing is utterly embarrassing and humiliating in the first place let alone when people give you a disrespectful look as if it was my fault. I don't think I ever heard of a girl/woman who got assaulted and thought "oh that was fun".

It was the same thing back in Secondary school when me and my friend were on the tram home and this old Turkish man started pull us into our sits with my friend on his lap. Everybody turned around and stared at us, they all knew what was going on. Did anybody say anything? - No. We were 13 years old of course this wasn't what we wanted. And all it took to get him off us was for one younger guy who got on later to tell him to stop and he did. Nobody had to risk his life for that!

Yes it wasn't rape or sexual assault but it was still sexual harassment and as such it should be treaded. Women and girls should not have to live with the fact that these things happen.

And yes not all men are like that but it happens too often and when other men then don't speak up and protect the female I am not sure how much better they really are than the perpetrator.

Also don't blame it on the women. It is all on the men to decide to harass a woman. Simply get your hormones under control (or whatever else it is that make men act like pigs).

Jon Stewart talked about the issue just the other day on the Daily Show. The US Army saw an increase in Assault charges since women joined in. According to some it was the women's fault - you know you are a woman joining the army, so what do you expect. They are men. What kind of logic is that?! Even Jon Stewart couldn't come up with a joke for that one and instead simply said that men who harass and assault are an embarrassment and shame for the male gender - plain and simple.

Being stared at by men in a male dominated society I can live wit. I don't like it but I can accept it, it's their country and culture after all, so I'm not going to say anything.

Being sexual harassed to whatever degree on the other hand I don't and will not ever accept as something I should have to deal with. It is an act that is disrespectful, degrading and humiliating for the woman. And therefore one should take a stand and fight it to stop it from happening.