‘KLIA Karen’ criticised online for rude behaviour against airline staff in Malaysia

The woman is said to have verbally “attacked” the ground staff for two days. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM MISSSSSSYL/TIKTOK

PETALING JAYA - A video of yet another rude foreign tourist in Malaysia, nicknamed “KLIA Karen”, is making the rounds on social media.

The 16-second-long clip shared by a TikTok user @missssssyl showed a woman uttering abusive words at an airline ground staff member.

The woman is said to have verbally “attacked” the ground staff member for two days, on Dec 25 and 26.

The incident is believed to have taken place at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

“What would you do if people like this attack you for no reason?” wrote the Tiktok user who uploaded the video in her caption.

The TikTok user, however, refused to divulge further on the incident, adding that she had no intention to make the incident go viral.

KLIA district police chief Imran Abd Rahman said the woman has been charged with behaving inappropriately and she was slapped with a RM100 (S$30) fine.

“The woman had gone into the airplane and then she claimed that she had left some of her stuff and demanded to go out, but she was not allowed to do so, hence she made a scene.

“She was arrested and we charged her for behaving indecently and she was fined RM100,” Assistant Commissioner Imran said when contacted.

Last year, an incident involving another “Karen” went viral when a Caucasian woman who refused to wear a mask at a Dior boutique in Suria KLCC despite the requirement caused an uproar among social media users.

A video of the woman arguing with retail staff in KLCC went viral leading netizens to label her as “Dior Karen”.

Karen is a pejorative term used to describe a woman with an inflated sense of entitlement. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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