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A family had a surprising blast from the past earlier this week, when they came across some old footage of themselves on a late-night supermarket visit.

However, the element of surprise mostly came from the fact that the family was accused of harassment, while remaining unaware of any wrongdoing on their part.

The family's response was remarkably magnanimous, even going to the extent of apologising pre-emptively for any wrong they might have committed.

2019 footage on YouTube resurfaced

The footage was recorded by a woman who became the subject of public scrutiny for filming and making snide and racist remarks about fellow commuters on the MRT train on Apr. 21, 2021.

It later emerged that she had been doing this as early as December 2016, uploading multiple videos of her encounters on a YouTube channel.

One of the videos, uploaded on May 6, 2019, included one Ismail Tahir and his family, and was titled "Malays Harassing Chinese".

The video has been taken down, along with the "Beow Tan" YouTube account on which it was uploaded.

In the video, which was a minute and 45 seconds long, the family is seen having a discussion amongst themselves while picking up groceries in a supermarket.

Members of the family did glance in the direction of the camera occasionally throughout the course of the clip, but did not react to the woman or interact with her in any way.

The woman, standing a short distance from them, did not speak or move throughout the clip, except when she appeared to stop the recording at the end.

Response by the family

Ismail posted on Facebook on Apr. 26 in response to the footage being brought to his family's attention.

"So the family sat down over iftar trying to recall that night about how our selection process for peanut butter became a harassment issue for the lady," Ismail wrote.

He said that the family wanted to reach out to her to apologise "if we made her feel in any way uncomfortable."

"Maybe we were too engrossed with peanut butter!" he speculated.

Ismail also shared that concerned family and friends had been reaching out to them, to check on them and see if they were okay.

He added that many non-Malay friends had also shared their concern, and even apologised on behalf of the lady.

"There’s no need for any apologies because in fact, we were amused by the video and how sleepy we all looked in the video because it was a midnight grocery run!" he wrote.

He also addressed "those of you who are hunting this lady down" and urged them to give her the benefit of doubt.

"So let’s not label her just yet! In fact, we should encourage her to seek some help!" he wrote.

Ismail acknowledged that those captured in the videos had their privacy invaded, but urged them to "simmer this down" by reporting the account so it could be taken down.

Ismail ended off his post by sharing that his family opted for "Smuckers' PB&J", in response to a frequently-asked question.

The post attracted some outrage from commenters, many of whom suggested that it was the woman who was guilty of harassment against the family.

Others commended the family for their gracious response, and compassion for the woman.

Woman terminated from real estate company.

Meanwhile, the woman has been terminated by the real estate company under which she was registered as a salesperson.

You can see the post by the family here: