A Lesson On Politeness And Why You Don't Need To Know Someone To Be Nice To Them

Instagramer Ridduan Ismail - @ttfga - is in news for reasons other than his street-style photography. The KL-based photographer, whose photos are regarded with the epitome of professionalism by fellow Instagramers, seems to lack basic human decency.

An incident that unfolded in the first week of June on Instagram, Marina Mahathir, one of the 22.8k followers of Ridduan, left a comment on one of his photographs which showed fashion advisor Zaihani Zain wearing a rather impressive looking necklace

Intrigued by the design, Marina, who didn't know the lady's name, asked, "Who is she? And what is that wonderful necklace?" To which Ridduan replied, "So not "glamour" of you to ask that question."

While Ridduan had no clue that Marina Mahathir was the face behind the @matanetra (the account is no longer active) making a comment on the post, Marina was surely taken aback by the photographer's uncalled remark in response to her simple query.

However, after a few exchanges, he realised who she was and deleted the exchanges, apologising to Marina claiming he had no clue it was "her". To which Marina left an apt response, highlighting her simple philosophy in life to always be nice to everybody without judging the person's background and or their levels in society.

Realising he messed up, Ridduan tried to explain himself, finally answering her query and offered an apology for offending her. But it was too late. Marina's response to which is a lesson in basic human decency. She pointed out to him that, "as a matter of principle, you should not be rude to anyone, regardless of who they are."

In conclusion, the lesson here is that:

The Internet, despite being "virtual", is as real a place as the world. It wouldn't hurt to be kind and courteous to the people you meet.

Last year, we did an exclusive interview with Marina, in which she opened up about the rising extremism in Malaysia, her optimism for the open letters, our last chance, and what Malaysians can do