On Friday (23rd July) morning, a private helicopter had travelled from Kuala Lumpur and landed on Padang Ipoh, Perak to retrieve 36 takeaway packets of Nasi Ganja from a well-known nasi kandar restaurant.
It was reported that the helicopter had permission to land at the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport (LTSAS), but not at Padang Ipoh. The Bell 505 helicopter, which is operated by Systematic Aviation Services Sdn Bhd (SAS), landed at the aforementioned field between 9:55am and 10:15am.
When interviewed by FMT, Nasi Kandar Ayam Merah Ipoh stall owner Mohamed Nihmathullah Syed Mustafa said, “All we know is that it was a Datuk who ordered. I laughed out loud when they said they were coming by helicopter to pick up the food. I thought they were bluffing. The man paid RM360 for the meals and left. My son-in-law and I were shocked to see all this.”
When news of the Nasi Ganja “chopper delivery” went viral, many were not only amused but determined to find out the Datuk’s identity. Some even circulated that the person responsible was Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz. He immediately took to social media to laugh off the fake news from Whatsapp.
According to the Finance Minister, the photo being circulated was taken from December 2020. Plus, the dish he was eating then wasn’t Nasi Ganja but another dish call Nasi Vanggey. “This is hilarious. I received a WhatsApp message accusing me of ordering some Nasi Ganja from Ipoh using a helicopter. They used an old picture of me eating Nasi Vanggey in December 2020, but conveniently cropped the date of the post,” Tengku Zafrul wrote.
He continued, “It’s been a while since I last ate Nasi Vanggey, but ordering a helicopter just to do so, makes little sense. It would have been better if I just ordered from a number of Nasi Kandar runners that is available. I can help small business owners too.”
After denying the fake news, Tengku Zafrul was contacted by Nasik Kandaq Transporter (NKT), who offered to deliver some Nasi Kandaq to his office as a treat. In return, the 48-year-old was happy to promote the Penang food business on his platform.
