Malaysian TikTok star ‘Tube Girl’ funds schooling for Palestinians: ‘you have to give back’, says influencer, real name Sabrina Bahsoon
- Sabrina Bahsoon, known for her viral dances on the London Tube, is sponsoring schooling for Palestinian children living as refugees in Malaysia
- While Malaysia is one of the few countries that formally recognises Palestinian nationhood, its approach to refugees has fallen under scrutiny in recent weeks
Her fame has brought opportunities to walk on fashion runways and garnered almost 800,000 followers on TikTok, with her breakout video in August viewed nearly 30 million times alone.
Now, guided by her father’s Lebanese heritage and Malaysia’s staunch support of the Palestinian cause, Sabrina has sponsored schooling for a group of children from the city’s small Palestinian refugee community in collaboration with refugee advocacy group, Geutanyoe Malaysia.
“My values from my father and my mum are you have to give back,” Sabrina told This Week in Asia during a trip to Kuala Lumpur. “Success is only given to those who will help others in return when they get there. So I want to do something.”
Malaysia is one of the countries that formally recognises Palestinian nationhood and has no formal ties with Israel.