Cover image via Laura Melissa Williams/InstagramA few days ago, thousands of SPM candidates flooded the Instagram account of a woman who went paragliding with vulgar comments.
In her latest post uploaded on Friday, 8 November, the woman, Laura Melissa Williams, has now taken a stand against the cyberbullying.
Laura Melissa, who is a London-based artist, took to her Instagram account yesterday, addressing the barrage of comments that were left by this year's SPM candidates in one of her photos uploaded in July.
"I woke up two days ago to find out I'd become very popular in Malaysia and was receiving thousands of messages, memes and comments on Instagram and Twitter," she wrote in her post.
"I was linked to a case study in the SPM English exam paper about a 16-year-old paraglider called Melissa that had an accident while flying, that every 17-year-old in your country had to answer."
Image via Laura Melissa Williams/Instagram
Addressing the case about how Melissa in the SPM English paper has nothing to do with her, she wrote the experience has been overwhelming as she received over 150,000 comments and likes
"As you have probably realised by now, the Melissa in your exam paper has nothing to do with me – I simply happen to be a female paraglider – who loves the sport – and whose middle name is Melissa.
"Since all this started 48 hours ago I've had over 150,000 comments, likes and tweets – which – to be honest – is totally surreal… and quite overwhelming too," she expressed.
While she acknowledged that a lot of messages have been beautiful and kind, she said that other messages she received were nasty
"A lot of your messages have been beautiful and kind and I've been encouraged by their positivity – thank you," Laura wrote in her post, disclosing that she has visited Malaysia in the past and loved the country.
"However, some of the messages I've received haven't been so nice: nasty messages like these are hurtful and can cause mental health issues," the 30-year-old woman said.
She said that she is old enough to see through the bombardment of such comments.
However, she cautioned that if she was, in fact, a 16-year-old girl like the Melissa in the SPM English paper, there's a very likely chance that "this would be a different story", urging all those who posted the nasty comments to "think before they act in future".
Image via Laura Melissa Williams/Instagram
She said that the experience, however, has given her an insight into what it feels like to be someone who has encountered cyberbullying
"Coincidentally, I'm an artist who works on projects that focus on the fusion of technology and human behaviour and how it impacts our bodies, hearts and minds.
"You have given me the most amazing source material for behaviours on social media and an insight into what it feels like to be someone who's encountered cyberbullying," she wrote.
