KFC assault victim denies provoking attack
Source: Malaysiakini - Kuek Ser Kuang Keng (View expressed here is solely the opinion of the source)
The man who was allegedly assaulted by a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) staff member on Monday, denied the accusation that he provoked the incident by uttering racial or discriminatory words at the fast food retailer’s workers.
“I was angry and scolded them loudly but I didn’t use any vulgar, racial or discriminatory words,” said Danny Ng during a press conference today.
After a 27-second video footage showing the incident on Monday evening at a KFC outlet in I-City, Shah Alam, went viral on the Internet, some netizens accused Ng of hurling racial remarks at KFC staff, thus provoking the attack.
With the assistance of Segambut DAP parliamentarian Lim Lip Eng, Ng called a press conference to rebut the accusations.
“Some accused me of saying things that insulted religion and race. I had never said it... Some accused me of being drunk that night but I was not. I don’t drink,” he stressed.
Lim also called on netizens to stop fanning racial sentiment over the incident.
“Please stop the nonsense because they were not there,” said the 26-year-old graphic designer.
Together with Ng during the press conference were his wife and sister, who were also involved in the scuffle.
According to Ng, at around 10 that night, they were queuing at the KFC restaurant to redeem their meals using prepaid vouchers bought from the Internet.
After almost an hour of waiting together with some 20 customers, the frustrated customers questioned the delay and were told by the KFC kitchen staff that the fried chicken was out of stock.
This further annoyed the customers who started to raise their voice and questioned why they were not informed about it earlier, and subsequently a heated argument broke out between them and the restaurant staff, but no offensive word was used, said Ng (below).
“I scolded them and questioned their service attitude. They were angry and said, ‘Mahu gaduh ke?’ (You want to quarrel?).
“I also heard a staff say, ‘Kalau mahu makan, sendiri masaklah, babi!’ (If you want to eat, go cook yourself, pig!).
“Initially I wanted to move forward but then I saw them holding steel bar as if they wanted to beat us. My wife then dragged me out of the restaurant for my safety,” he claimed.
Upset with the slur, Ng, armed with his mobile phone with the aim of recording evidence for a future complaint, re-entered the restaurant to confront the staff, threatening to lodge a police report against them.
‘They tried to attack me’
“Then they stormed out from the counter, shouting at me and trying to attack me, but they were stopped by other staff.
“Suddenly a kitchen staff wearing a KFC apron charged at me and grabbed my neck from behind. Then he punched the back of my head and my face, then kicked my legs, causing me to fall on a chair.
“Some other customers came to shield me. Then a staff member brought me out of the restaurant and advised me to leave immediately. He said his colleagues had called up their friends. So we left the restaurant,” he added.
“I did not fight back because I know resorting to violence is wrong,” said Ng.
However, his wife conceded punching one of the staffs to protect her husband.
“When I tried to pull him away from my husband, he stared at me as if he is going to beat me. So I yelled at him, ‘You want to beat me? Go ahead, everybody is looking now’, so he stopped,” said the wife, who refused to reveal her name.
Before the footage - believed to be recorded by an eyewitness - went viral on the Internet, Ng was reluctant to lodge a police report because there was no evidence to back him.
Accompanied by Kevin Chin, the special assistant of Seputeh DAP parliamentarian Teresa Kok, Ng made his report at Brickfields police station last night and subsequently went to University Malaya Medical Centre to have his injury examined.
“I don’t know who uploaded the video but I hope those who were at the scene can come forward to be my witnesses,” Ng appealed.
He also claimed that an investigating officer from Shah Alam police station, by the name of Azizan, had instructed him not to bring the matter to any political party because “We are 1Malaysia”.
Ng, who suffered minor bruises at the back of the head, demanded a satisfactory answer from the KFC management, which had contacted him, requesting a discussion to resolve the matter.
“I will not eat at KFC for a long time,” he said.
The investigating officer had also arranged a meeting between him and a KFC representative at Shah Alam for 3pm today.
Meanwhile, KFC Malaysia responded on their Facebook page that they are aware of the video and are currently investigating the issue. The staff involved are also said to have been suspended, pending investigation.
“Once the investigation is completed, the team will take appropriate action to address any violation of our strict operating procedures and customer service standards. We will keep each of you posted on the updates of our findings,” read the short statement.
