Auntie Bersih, an instant icon. Annie Ooi, the Malaysian Lady of Liberty! 8D

Eleven days after inspiring netizens with her heroic role in the Bersih 2.0 rally, Auntie Anne Ooi - a retired teacher who has led a simple life and who has no knowledge of social media, the intense attention has come as a culture shock - has gone into hiding.

Ooi, 65, has been praised as the 'Malaysian Lady of Liberty' and held up as an icon of the Bersih 2.0 cause for clean and fair elections, said she is stunned by the attention she has received on the Facebook page set up for her, which has gained more than 40,000 'likes' to date.

When met on Monday night, she said, "I'm so frightened by all this 'madness' in Facebook. I lead a life with no TV, no newspaper, no nonsense. I read only good books. (Now) I dare not go home. All this madness frightens me. Everything is so unbelievable."

Ooi, who had been an English teacher for 35 years, said her daughter's house "is now my shell" and said she dared not go out in public, except to church and expressed her wish to be left alone and pleaded with the public to give her time to adjust to the situation.
 

On the sidelines of a seminar organised by the DAP, she told Malaysiakini, "Please give me time. I know I have courage... until I can handle Facebook, only until then..."