LOS ANGELES: Life has not been the best of times since Anita moved to the United States when she was 7-years-old. Now 19 and attending the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), this first-year student spoke out about being a Malaysia immigrant and Muslim woman in the growing anti-Islam America. Anita's story began like many immigrants coming to the United States in search of a new life. Her father, she told Bikyamasr.com, had received a job offer after working in Penang's nascent technology sector for a few years. He came to Southern California and all seemed well. They had a house just outside the city and were secure in their financial future. It wasn't until Anita was a sophomore at high school when her life was turned upside down. She had joined the volleyball team and had received praise for her talents. “The coach took a real interest in me and said I could play in college if I kept it up,” she told Bikyamasr.com in LA's Koreatown over tea. Her accent, which she claimed was strong when she began middle school is non-existent. “But that's when he started to get weird. He would come into the locker room when we were taking showers and getting dressed and undressed. We all knew something was wrong,” she said. Her junior year things became worse. One evening, after practice, she was alone in the locker room, and completely naked when he walked in and began chatting about the upcoming matches. “I tried to cover myself with a towel, but his eyes were all over me. I felt invaded,” she retold of the incident. “He then moved over and started to touch me. I kept saying no, but he put his hand under the towel and started touching me. I had to punch him in the face to get him away. I thought I was going to be raped.” For one of her teammates, she found out later after telling of the sexual assault, Anita was lucky. A senior girl, who had quick the squad mid-season, was raped in the locker room in a similar assault. Anita admitted that she should have told her parents and the school, but was afraid that as a Muslim woman in America she would be seen as attempting to stir controversy. “The anti-Islam was growing at the school and the coach was well liked by the community, so I chose to keep silent. I regret that,” she admitted. After the incident, she said she became more sensitive to comments she received from other students at the school. They knew she was Muslim and took advantage of her, often calling her derogatory names. “They were so stupid because they thought I was an Arab because I was Muslim. They would call me slut and whore and Sandnigger and all that crap on a weekly basis,” she revealed. It sent her into a state of depression, she said. That is when she started referring to herself as “Anita” instead of her real name, which is a more obvious Muslim one, Salma. “My parents didn't reject the idea and now everyone calls me Anita. I think it helped me to really understand America and what was and is happening to the country with Islam,” she argued. While she admitted that the anti-Islam sentiments against her still occur in LA on the streets and in her community, university has allowed her to rediscover her Malaysian heritage. “As a vegetarian I have been able to have the best of friends already here at school and they have really pushed me to cook some of the Malaysian cuisine, with a twist, of course,” she said of her first 6 weeks at university. Her parents urged her to live near to the university and that has been a huge help, she said. She has found other Malaysians and Malaysian-Americans with similar stories and relationships. She admitted to rejecting her cultural background when she was in her “rebellious years,” but now has an appreciation for both America and Malaysia. “Both people are quite similar really. We all want the same things and I appreciate that my parents have given me the opportunity to be American, Muslim and Malaysian,” she added.
