Nurul Izzah Anwar is seen with Faizal Ismail on the FBI talk show last week. — Picture via Facebook/Faizal Ismail FBI

PETALING JAYA, May 28 ― “Azrul”, the name of a caller who tried to humiliate Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar during a talk show, has taken on an ignominious meaning on social media.

Among Twitter users, for instance, “Azrul” has become synonymous with male lewdness or generally scummy behaviour, in reference to the caller’s remarks to Nurul Izzah on the FBI talk show last week in which he talked about her inner wear and breasts under the pretext of advising her to dress more modestly.

His comments sparked an immediate uproar on Twitter, with both women and men rebuking those who went out of their way to police the way women dressed.

Women on Twitter recounted their own experiences of such harassment while others suggested for the word “Azrul” be made into an adjective or noun to denote public shaming attempts.

Former Malaysiakini assistant editor Aidila Razak shared her experience of eating alone in Bangsar when a man walked up and instructed her to cover up her breasts.

The Azrul incident reminded me of a time I was eating roti canai alone before work when Malaysiakini was still in Bangsar. Out of nowhere a pakcik I didn't know came up to me and said: "Buah dada tu tutup sikit." I was gobsmacked. Verily, there are Azruls everywhere. — Aidila Razak (@aidilarazak) May 25, 2018

“My version of [an] Azrul incident happened to me a few years back at a bazaar Ramadhan. A guy came up to me and said, ‘Better go nude if you’re not wearing a tudung',” wrote user @lisazaraLF.

While my version of Azrul is when I was wearing a tudung bawal bidang 50 (dilepaskan ke bawah ye tak selempang), and my 'friend' came to me and said, "tudung kau nipis lah, nampak bentuk depan. Careful ye pasni"



I was frozen and shocked. — mochi (@itsnotamni) May 26, 2018

now everyone is speaking up abt the azrul incident which happened to them bfore, lol we had it too back then in our college, but we never had the strength to fight back bcs guess what, we were dominated by boys 🤦🏻 ♀️ thank god the world is speaking truth rn — Adlina (@adlinainsyirah) May 27, 2018

the azrul guy yang tegur yb izzah is the summary of boys in my mrsm — zera 🌻 (@ZahirahHusna) May 26, 2018

Congrats YB @n_izzah, you have shown yr excellent maturity in handling this so called low IQ & mentality Azrul. Keep up! — VJ (@Vijayaraj13) May 27, 2018

Men are trash ! And if you think you are not so you don’t have to feel triggered do you ? just focus on being a good guy you think you are and protect women in your circle.

Stop pretending all saint stop being Azrul ! https://t.co/LZl0YNya3g — ᴅᴇʀᴇᴋ ᴍᴄᴅʀᴇᴀᴍiᴇ (@draak_myhd) May 27, 2018

Why are we even surprised anymore at the phonecall Azrul made to Nurul Izzah? Every woman has experienced her own version of Azrul and her perpetrator was condoned and justified. That's why Azrul had the audacity to do it live to someone high-profile. You enabled this culture. https://t.co/iJ7VNDRHBp — Shafiqah Othman (@sfqomhz) May 27, 2018

Here’s how you can incorporate Azrul into your vocabulary:

"Azrul" should be used as an adjective.



E.g: Complaining about contributing 2% of your salary to your wife's EPF is such an Azrul thing to do. — sunarpu (@sunarpu) May 26, 2018

"You're such an AZRUL!"

"Azrul ke asshole?"

"BOTH!!" — ferai (@AinFaizaRiza) May 27, 2018

For anyone who think #MeToo, the movement to end sexual harassment and misconduct is not as widespread as it should be in Malaysia, Azrul could be the catalyst to change things up.