A social media influencer has apologized to the whole of Malaysia after he was filmed talking down to someone during an event at a homeless shelter.
Carl Samsudin posted an apology today after being attacked by Malaysians online for questioning a 64-year-old homeless shelter resident whether he regretted not working hard enough when he was younger. He spoke to the man in front of more than a dozen other residents and even gave him RM50 (US$12) for coming forward.
“I’m sorry Malaysia,” Carl said. “I realized I shouldn’t have spoken in that manner and raised my voice at people not of my age. I’m sorry and this is a huge lesson to me. I’m so, so, sorry Malaysia. Sincerely, Carl Samsudin.”
The 34-year-old also apologized to his team, acknowledging that he had “disappointed” them.
Carl, who has more than 100,000 followers on Instagram and runs a fashion business, held an event at the homeless shelter in Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Around 20 people watched as Carl led his motivational talk titled “Change Your Life.”
“Do you regret not doing anything when you were younger? Do you regret playing around too much, doing things half-heartedly when you were younger? Do you regret it?” asked Carl, who was not wearing a mask, in the nearly 50-second video that has since gone viral online.
Carl was fined RM1,500 for not wearing a face mask, police said yesterday. An aide to federal territories minister Annuar Musa also reacted to the viral incident yesterday, advising homeless centers to conduct proper checks before inviting any guests. Carl was not appointed by any government agency to speak, the aide added.
“He was part of an NGO who came to conduct an entrepreneurship programme,” the aide said. “We advise those managing the homeless centres not to invite just any outsider, and if there are speakers who come, they must follow SOPs and not overstep their boundaries with the residents.”
Malaysians who reacted to Carl’s video mainly criticized him for being “insensitive and disrespectful.” One of them even told Carl to apologize to the homeless man directly.
“Have you asked for the Pakcik’s forgiveness? Learn from your mistakes. Please respect everyone. Don’t judge people. If you want to help, help and keep quiet. You don’t need to talk so much. The more we say, I’m afraid that there’ll be more mistakes. #selfreminder,” the person said.
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