'I didn't snub Najib' - Seafood warung owner hurt by edited video

 

MALACCA POLLS | A casual visit by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak to a seafood warung at Pantai Siring in Merlimau, Malacca two days ago became a hot topic on social media after it was alleged that the owner and customers had given him the cold shoulder.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Haslinda Musa (above), the owner of Warung Bawah Pokok Dak Lin, said the social media claims were far from the truth.

Several BN rival platforms had shared a short clip edited from a longer video by Malaysia Gazette.

The edited clip claimed that workers and customers at the warung had packed up and left upon seeing Najib.

"I was shocked to see how the video was manipulated to such an extent. Because the original video was published by Malaysia Gazette, but this one has been edited to show only the part where we were busy cleaning up.

"To a certain extent, I feel hurt by this. Because it is not good for my image as a businessperson, alleging that my warung treated a VVIP like that.

"I am a businessperson, we welcome anyone to come here, regardless of whatever their political views and affiliation," she told Malaysiakini this afternoon.

Clarifying the incident last Sunday, Haslinda said Najib had arrived 15 minutes earlier than scheduled, causing her workers to rush to clean up after other customers.

"Najib's assistant had called us up on Saturday evening, saying that he wanted to have breakfast at my warung at 9.50am. He booked for 40 people.

"But coincidentally on Sunday morning, there was high tide which caused the beachfront part of my warung to be inundated, so we had to seat customers at only one side," she said.

With many customers and limited space at 8m, Haslinda said she decided to allow customers to use the space reserved for Najib's group as he was not due to arrive in another two hours.

"But to our surprise, he came much earlier, so there were two more tables which we did not manage to clear in time.

"But luckily, he turned to the other side to meet my other customers first so we can get ample time to prepare," she said.

Celup tepung

According to Haslinda, her three-year-old business serves deep-fried seafood (fish, squid and prawn), also known as celup tepung in Malay, as its main dishes.

These were also the dishes that Najib had ordered for his entourage and other public members who joined him for breakfast. Also served were nasi lemak and fried mee.

She believed that the warung's speciality dishes was what had attracted the politician to try it out during his visit to the area.

Haslinda said she only learnt about the viral fake news this morning after several friends tagged her on Facebook.

"We also feel proud to have VVIP come to our ordinary warung. It's illogical for us to act like that."

However, on the bright side, Haslinda also feels that the viral video has made her shop more popular.

She hoped that it would have a positive turn out that more people will come to visit after this.

Najib's visit was amid the Malacca polls which will take place on Nov 20.

The 12-day campaign period kicked off yesterday. - Mkini