Malaysian Regrets Picking Up Tourist Hitchhiker Due To Her Body Odour & Rude Attitude
The woman made multiple requests during the journey.
Cover image via A Malaysian's Facebook post has gone viral after he shared a cautionary tale about his unpleasant experience giving a foreign hitchhiker a lift from Penang to Kuala Lumpur
In the post on Wednesday, 28 May, Facebook user Afifi shared an incident from a few years ago, when he and a friend were travelling from Kedah to the capital city.
After making a short stop in Penang to refuel and purchase some snacks, the pair were approached by a Western woman holding a cardboard sign that read "To Kuala Lumpur".
Feeling compassionate and eager to portray Malaysians as friendly and helpful to tourists, the duo agreed to give her a ride. But what was meant to be a kind gesture quickly turned into a regrettable decision.
"First impression? Terrible. She smelled like she hadn't showered in a week," Afifi wrote, adding that the stench was so unbearable he had to roll down the car windows
As the journey began, he tried to make small talk to be hospitable, but was met with nothing but condescension.
"She mentioned which country she was from, though I cannot even remember now, then asked if we knew her country and whether we had ever travelled abroad.
"What? Did she think she was the only one who had travelled? She thought we didn't know how to travel? I've been to almost 30 countries, mind you.
"But I couldn't be bothered to argue, especially with her condescending tone. We've done weeks-long road trips, renting cars to travel across countries. None of that cheapskate hitchhiking nonsense like what she was doing," Afifi said.
Annoyed by his passenger's behaviour, Afifi turned on some music, hoping it would discourage any further conversation
However, the complaints from the passenger soon escalated. The woman remarked that the car was too hot and requested the air conditioning (AC) to be turned on.
Afifi explained that he had initially avoided using the AC to help keep her body odour at bay. Since both he and his friend also wanted a more comfortable ride, they decided to close the windows and turn on the AC.
Even then, the woman continued to grumble: "It is not cold enough, your country is so hot." Despite her attitude, they increased the AC for her.
It did not stop there. She went on to make another request, asking Afifi to lower the music volume as she wanted to take a nap.
"I was seriously pissed off at this point, but I lowered it a bit anyway.
"She fell asleep, so we finally had some peace for a while… until she suddenly started complaining again, saying the notifications from my phone were disturbing her sleep. She asked me to put it on silent," he recalled
At that point, Afifi decided he had had enough. "Be annoyed all you want. I was done entertaining her [requests]," he said.
Afifi considered dropping her off at the next toll booth, but his friend advised him against it.
As they approached Kuala Lumpur, the woman made another request: to be dropped off at a train station
Afifi and his friend agreed to drop her off at KL Sentral.
"The moment we arrived, she just got out. Not even a single 'thank you'. Total jerk," Afifi remarked.
He ended his post with a warning to fellow Malaysians about picking up hitchhikers, especially foreign tourists who may be exploiting local kindness.
"Another thing, if you've noticed, at Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS), there are often foreigners begging for money, saying they've run out of cash and need to continue their journey. Go to your embassy for help, not random strangers.
"Once was enough for me with people like this. You don't need to go through the same. Sure, not everyone's like her, but it's better to avoid the situation entirely," he concluded the post.
