KUALA LUMPUR: The owner of the Vitti Lodge and Family Apartment has urged the three Malaysians who caused trouble at his hostel to apologise to all Malaysians.
Ema Vitti, who runs the hostel in Japan’s third largest city, Osaka, said the actions of the trio — vandalising a common area at the lodge, defecating in the shower and threatening the caretaker — had reflected badly on Malaysians.
“Their unruly actions had brought much embarrassment to Malaysians, especially those who study and work in Japan. After the incident went viral, we received a lot of apologies from Malaysians, especially Netizens who expressed regret at what happened even though it was not their fault,” he told the New Straits Times in a telephone interview today.
Vitti also expressed regret that the trio had brought shame to Muslims with their non-Islamic behaviour.
A Muslim himself, Vitti said there was no excuse for them not to show respect to other cultures, and be respectful while traveling abroad.
He noted that until today, only one of them, Hidayat Kamal, had apologised for his actions in damaging the wall of the hostel.
On the remaining two others, he said Ramadhan Sinclair and Ahmad Faris remained defiant and had not apologised.
“I learned that one of them even made cynical remarks on Facebook, refusing to accept responsibility for what happened,” he said.
He said the incident was now the talk of the town in Osaka, especially among lodging operators.
Vitti, an Arab Italian who had been residing in Japan for almost 40 years, said some lodging operators are contemplating banning Malaysians following the incident.
Despite the incident, he said he would continue to open his doors to Malaysians.
He had previously banned Koreans and Chinese from staying in his lodge, and has seriously considered banning Malaysians too following the incident.
After much consideration, he decided to view the incident as an isolated case and does not believe it reflects the behaviour of Malaysians in general.
Vitti also took into consideration the fact that he employs many Malaysians at his hostel and restaurant, while most of his patrons are also from Malaysia, who appreciate his affordable rates and halal food.
However, he will not drop the police case against the trio.
Vitti said this was not because he was angry, but rather he was indignant and believes they should face justice.
He said what they did was unacceptable, especially in their manhandling of his hostel staff, who is also a Malaysian.
“How could they do this to their own countryman, and a fellow Muslim too? If they had not left Japan, they would definitely have been behind bars by now,” said Vitti, adding that physical assaults were a serious crime in Japan.
The incident went viral three days ago after Vitti shared a video on the lodge’s Facebook page, out of frustration after he discovered the incident through a closed-circuit television (CCTV) video.
The video clip showed the three threatening to hit the Malaysian staff. They also reportedly used foul language against the employee.
One of the three, Hidayat, was shown vandalising the lodge by punching a hole in the wall.
Vitti said the three had forced the lodge employee to fork out ¥130,000 (RM5,1104) to be paid to the owner to repair damages.
“They forced my staff to lie to me and said that they were the ones who paid,” he added.