Sometimes, the message may come from a place of concern, but the way it is delivered can make all the difference.
A Malaysian man recently went viral after sharing a workplace incident that still makes him feel guilty until today, involving a female colleague whom he once commented on for having body odour.
Told her directly about it at work
In a Threads post, the man recalled that he once approached a woman at his workplace after noticing that she had body odour.
According to him, he did not mock or make fun of her, but chose to tell her directly.
He wrote that he told her: “Kak, your armpit smells.”
However, what happened after that left him shocked. He claimed that the woman resigned from her job the very next day.
Until now, I still feel guilty. Was the way I told her wrong?” he wrote.
Says he now keeps quiet instead
In a follow up post, he jokingly said that after the incident, he now chooses to remain silent whenever he notices the same issue among his students.
He added that he would simply hold his breath until they were done with class, before jokingly asking who wanted to challenge him to an underwater breath holding contest.
However, he later posted another update to apologise to the woman involved.
He said he could no longer remember who she was or even her name, but if she ever saw the thread and still remembered him, he wanted to say sorry.
“I’m sorry if you felt hurt. Back then, I was too straightforward. Although my intention was good, the way I said it was wrong. I’m sorry, kak,” he wrote.
Netizens say he should have been more tactful
The post quickly sparked a discussion online, with many netizens saying that while the issue itself may be sensitive, the delivery could have been handled in a much kinder way.
One netizen advised him to use indirect language when talking about private matters, as some people may feel deeply embarrassed when confronted directly.
The netizen suggested that instead of saying it so plainly, he could have brought it up through a casual conversation, such as sharing a “past experience” where someone once gave them deodorant.
Another user said that the woman’s decision to quit the next day showed how much the comment may have affected her.
“If you want to tell someone, do it in a way that does not shame or embarrass them,” the user wrote, adding that even a simple anonymous note might have been a better approach.
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