Tengku Zafrul: Photo of me eating ‘nasi ganja’ was from last year

 

PETALING JAYA: Tickled by a WhatsApp message claiming that he ordered “nasi vanggey" from Ipoh to be delivered by helicopter, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the photo of him eating the mixed rice dish in the viral message was actually from last year.

The Finance Minister also clarified that he did not charter a helicopter to buy takeaway from another state, saying that it was better to use small-time delivery services for such an endeavour.

“It was amusing to receive a WhatsApp message claiming that I ordered nasi vanggey using a helicopter service. They used an old picture of me eating nasi vanggey in December 2020 but cropped out the date.

“I actually haven’t had nasi vanggey in a long time but rather than order it by helicopter, it’s better to use the delivery service of Nasi Kandaq Transporter, Nasi Kandaq Runner and more while at the same time, you will be helping small entrepreneurs,” he said in a post on Facebook on Friday (July 23).

The viral message came following news of a helicopter landing at Padang Ipoh on Friday morning to pick up 36 packs of “nasi ganja", also known as nasi vanggey, ordered from a local restaurant by a customer from Kuala Lumpur.

An unnamed spokesman for the restaurant said it received an order for 36 packets of rice with chicken, meat and salted eggs and was told it would be collected by helicopter.

Better known as nasi kandar, nasi ganja got its name for its apparent addictiveness. This Malaysian rice delight is served by Indian Muslim restaurateurs and stallholders in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia has launched an investigation of the incident.

Meanwhile, following Tengku Zafrul's social media post, delivery service Nasi Kandaq Transporter sent over a few packs of nasi kandar to the Finance Ministry on Saturday (July 24).

"After I denied the nasi ganja helicopter issue, Nasi Kandaq Transporter contacted me offering to send nasi kandar all the way from Penang.

"Coincidentally, I'm in the office today. So I'm treating my staff. Thank you to Mamu Zir and team for sending over lunch to #TeamMOF today.

"Anyone who is craving can order from them," Tengku Zafrul posted on Facebook. - Star