Malaysian Woman In South Korea Claims She Was Grabbed, Chased By Car After Trying To Report Assault To Police

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A Malaysian woman working as a day labourer at a vegetable farm in South Korea claims she was physically assaulted by a driver employed by a local labour broker, then chased by a car after she attempted to file a police report — an account she documented in a series of Facebook posts that have since circulated widely online.

The woman, who goes by Rai Yaie on Facebook and documents her life in Korea under the hashtags #MamaMika and #MikaDiKorea, said the incident began at approximately 5:40 am when she boarded a van arranged by the broker to transport workers to a farm.

According to her posts, the driver asked mid-journey whether she intended to work permanently or only for the day.

When she told him she was there for two days — her usual team was on a rain break — he turned the vehicle around and ordered her to leave.

Frustrated at having woken before dawn for nothing, she called him “bodoh” — a Malay word meaning stupid or foolish.

The driver, she said, understood the word.

He got out of the vehicle, grabbed her forcefully, and chased her when she ran. She said he grabbed her again from behind by her clothing, pulling hard enough that she nearly choked.

Police Report Filed, Medical Attention Sought

She managed to photograph him and his vehicle before leaving the scene.

The confrontation did not end there.

While walking to collect her child from a friend’s house, she said a second Korean man — later identified as the boss of the first driver — approached her, shouted at her, and threatened to “send all Malaysians back to Malaysia.”

He then got into his car and drove at her at speed; she ran under a nearby building and screamed for help until he left.

Rai Yaie said she subsequently filed a police report and sought medical attention at a local hospital, posting a photograph that appeared to be from a Korean hospital reception area.

She said she was waiting for the police to act.

“My mind is not fully calm yet to type out everything that happened,” she wrote in one post.

A Pattern, She Says

In the same post, Rai Yaie alleged the violence was not new.

She said the same boss had assaulted another Malaysian worker at the same operation weeks earlier, but that the victim did not file a report because they lacked a valid visa.

She also alleged a broader pattern of exploitation — wages withheld, long hours, and pay lower than what was promised — suggesting workers stayed with the broker not by choice but because they had no other options when farm work dried up due to bad weather.

How can anyone work permanently with them when they cheat on wages, pay little, work hours are long, and they like to hold back salaries.

The posts drew significant attention online, though much of the public commentary focused on whether she should return to Malaysia rather than on the assault itself.

Several commenters pointed to the declining value of the Korean won and argued that wages in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore were now comparable.

Not An Isolated Picture

Rai Yaie responded directly, saying she had been based in KL for nearly 10 years and was fully aware of the cost of living in Korea — housing, transport, and daily expenses.

She said her financial commitments, including loans and a car, made a simple return impractical.

“I know how to manage my own life,” she wrote, before apologising for the sharpness of her reply and noting that the comments had added to her distress.

In a later post, she addressed criticism that she should stop posting publicly if she did not want unsolicited opinions.

Her account has not been independently verified, though accounts of racial discrimination and mistreatment toward Southeast Asian workers in South Korea are not uncommon — many Malaysians who have worked, lived or travelled there have shared similar experiences.

@theamirulhakimi Pengalaman sebagai seorang lelaki Asia Tenggara (Malaysia) berkulit sawo matang + berjerawat + berparut jerawat di Seoul, Korea Selatan #southkorea #racism #xenophobia ♬ original sound – taylor x jungkook supremacy – mirul

When the Few Make It Harder for the Many

Mistreatment of foreign workers in South Korea — particularly those in blue-collar and informal roles — is a documented concern, with labour rights groups and researchers noting that vulnerability tends to increase for workers without formal visa status or written contracts.

Malaysians working in South Korea generally fall into two groups: professionals on legal contracts, and manual labourers who enter on tourist visas and overstay to work.

No official figures exist, but volunteer groups and news reports suggest thousands of Malaysians have worked illegally in South Korea over the years — most arriving on tourist visas or through the K-ETA electronic travel authorisation, then quietly staying on to take up farm, factory, or restaurant work.

The draw is straightforward: the exchange rate means wages in Korean won can multiply several times what the same work pays back home, and most jobs are found through brokers advertising on social media.

Because they have no legal work permit, they have almost no recourse when things go wrong — no contract to enforce, no status to stand on, and the constant risk of detention if they draw attention to themselves.

Stringent searches and occasional denial of entry for Malaysian tourists are often linked to the presence of illegal workers, leading authorities to tighten control over arrivals.

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Malaysian Woman In South Korea Claims She Was Grabbed, Chased By Car After Trying To Report Assault To Police
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