#trending: Malaysian youths in Dublin assaulted by group of teens in ‘racist attack’

DUBLIN, IRELAND — Four Malaysians visiting Dublin, Ireland were hurt after they were beaten and attacked by a group of teenage boys. 

Former newscaster Norzie Pak Wan Chek detailed the "terrifying" ordeal in a Facebook post on Dec 5. She described it as a "racist attack" and said that the victims — her niece, her niece's friend, and their brother and sister — suffered bruises and a black eye.

The four — aged between 18 to 27 —  were out doing last-minute shopping on Dec 4 in Dublin before their flight back to Malaysia the next day, she added.

Ms Norzie told Malaysia news website Says.com that her niece is a junior doctor who is doing her housemanship in the Irish town of Clonmel.

At around 8.15pm, the group was waiting at a restaurant for the bus to head back to their accommodation when they were harassed by a group of teenagers.

“It was at this time that they were jeered at by a group of teenage boys who started throwing an empty can at my niece and tossing dirty fries from the floor of a restaurant they were waiting at," Ms Norzie said.

As more boys joined in, the Malaysians left the restaurant and walked to the bus station to avoid confrontation. 

However, the attackers “would not give up”, circling them with their bicycles and braking hard to “scare them”, Ms Norzie claimed.

They even threatened the Malaysians by shouting: “I’ll ****ing kill you!”

The harassment soon escalated. Using bicycle seatposts that they had removed from their bikes, the teenagers attacked Ms Norzie’s niece, hitting the back of her neck. 

While the group tried to shield her from the blows, the alleged assailants started raining punches on the victims. 

The four received punches on their arms, eyes and backs, Ms Norzie added.

The attack stopped when one of the victims managed to contact the Dublin police. 

Despite waiting for 30 minutes, the police did not show up.

The group of tourists reached a police station after hitching a ride from someone.

“What happened to my loved ones that night should never happen to anyone,” Ms Norzie wrote in the aftermath of the incident. 

She thanked the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their immediate help when she reached out to it. 

The newly sworn-in Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir, who had not begun his official duties at the time, had made sure that the victims were taken care of on a Sunday. 

"Within minutes, the recently sworn-in foreign minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir contacted (my friend) to inform her that he had spoken to the Secretary-General Datuk Seri Amran Mohamed Zin to take the necessary action," Ms Norzie wrote.

Mr Amran is the new secretary-general of Malaysia's Foreign Ministry. 

Ms Norzie also claimed that the minister "called me personally and promised that the four of them would be taken care of".

By 5am, an official Nadzira Abd Razak, the charge d'affaires in Dublin, and her colleague were at the airport to provide medical and boarding assistance for the victims, Ms Norzie added.

Her niece was taken back to her workplace, Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel, to get her the medical attention she needed. 

The Dublin police said that this was not the first time that the assailants caused trouble, Says.com reported. 

Ms Norzie was quoted by the news website saying that due to laws protecting minors there, it is unlikely that the case will be further pursued by the police.

She also said that the charge d'affaires will be speaking to the police to ensure that such attacks do not happen again.