KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners’ Association (Presma) will proceed with suing a TikTok user for making defamatory claims about food preparation and cleanliness at mamak restaurants.
Presma president Datuk Jawahar Ali Taib Khan said legal action would be taken on Monday.
The video by user @dyamohamad90, under the moniker “Kak Dya,” appears to have been deleted, but it has been downloaded by others and shared through WhatsApp.
Even if it is taken down, Presma is intent on suing the user, Jawahar has said.
“We don’t even know what the motive was for doing that. Our lawyers will file a suit this Monday,” he told Scoop when contacted.
He added that Kak Dya had not contacted Presma to discuss the video even after the association’s statements yesterday to slam the claims made and to defend the industry.
Yesterday Presma said the video had made false and malicious claims unsupported by evidence, which had tarnished the industry.
The TikTok video, which had over a million views yesterday before Presma addressed it, pushes claims that biryani rice is wrapped in white male underwear, and that a creature in Malay folklore called “toyol” was seen urinating into a curry pot.
Other claims involve used bathwater in gravy, and dhal curry that allegedly contains faeces.
No restaurant is named in the video, but Kak Dya, whose TikTok account appears skewed towards mystical subjects and conspiracy theories, is heard saying that these incidents were sighted at certain mamak restaurants.
However, she does provide a disclaimer at the beginning of the video, saying that these claims do not reflect all mamak restaurants. – January 13, 2024