Editor’s note: This article has been amended to accurately reflect Sora Ma’s involvement in the series.

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With local artistes such as Elvin Ng and Danny Yeo speaking up about bullying in showbiz, Malaysian actress Sora Ma has stepped forward to share her experience of bullying.

On Apr. 13, 2021, Shin Min Daily News (SMDN) reported an unpleasant incident that had allegedly occurred between Ma and a veteran artiste during the filming of 2016 Channel 8 television series, "118 II".

Ma plays the main antagonist in the long-form drama that revolves around a family who runs a coffeeshop.

According to Ma, she would cry every day after filming after being deliberately ignored and treated poorly by the unidentified veteran artiste.

"I'm not talking about you, Sora Ma!"

When Ma gathered the courage to share her experience, she told the Chinese daily,

"Actually, Elvin Ng knows about this incident too. At that time, he found it weird as he was also in the production team and we would chat privately and mutually support each other. Hearing him speak out about his experiences, I empathised and understood his feelings."

Ma refused to disclose the identity of the artiste, but some of her colleagues were reportedly aware that she was having a tough time then.

Initially, she noticed something was off as she was constantly being treated by a particular veteran artiste as "transparent". For example, when they were having meals together, the artiste would allegedly speak to everyone else and directly "skip" her, ignoring her presence.

When said artiste was speaking to others and noticed Ma walking over, he/she would suddenly add one or two irrelevant lines and emphasise, "I'm not talking about you, Sora Ma!"

Cried every day after filming

At the beginning, Ma believed it was because the artiste was too deeply immersed in their role such that the onscreen emotions had extended beyond filming.

However, the situation never improved after two consecutive months and the atmosphere on set remained weird.

Despite having quite a number of scenes and lines in "118 II", Ma refused to let her feelings of unease affect filming.

However, every day after the shoot was over, she would return to the car and cry. The sad feelings persisted for at least two weeks up to a month.

"Every day when I went to film, I had to take a deep breath upon alighting from the car and mentally prepare myself," she shared.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMMh4Q9gRiO/

SMDN asked Ma if she had ever asked the veteran senior if she had done anything wrong, to which she replied,

"I considered it but I could not find the courage to do so at that time!"

After these years, Ma said she no longer viewed the incident as something important, letting it fade away with time.

Words of encouragement

Following the interview, netizens have left encouraging comments on Ma's Instagram and Facebook posts respectively.

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Top images by Channel 8 on Facebook and @soramayx on Instagram.