It seems there’s trouble brewing for local entrepreneur “Prawn King” Umance Chong (锺宏绅) yet again. This time, it has to do with his venture into the tourism business, aka his travel agency MF Travel. According to customers, the agency has flaked on them, leaving them high and dry.
While Umance is no stranger to controversies, this time, he isn’t the only one in hot water. As Umance is currently nowhere to be found, netizens are going after celebs who endorsed the agency. In fact, local artist Amber Chia (谢丽萍) recently addressed the issue while claiming she was a victim too. Now, local actor Lim Ching Miau (林静苗) aka Miau Miau (苗苗) and television host Gary Yap (叶俊岑) are claiming the same!
Since Umance has seemingly disappeared, customers are turning to local celebs who endorsed the agency for help. Among them were Amber, Miau Miau and Gary. Amber has openly stated that she is doing her best to help. However, she too is struggling with MF Travel as they supposedly have not paid her advertising fees.
Then yesterday (4th October), Miau Miau and Gary stepped forward via their socials to clarify the issue on their end. The duo has made it clear that they understand the netizens’ plight, but are also claiming to be victims of Umance’s venture. “Dear netizens,” the duo began in their post. “(We) know you are all anxious and angry, and so are we. Because we are also victims.”
Both Miau Miau and Gary clarified that they had not expected the problems as they had only charged Umance’s company advertisement fees. “We (also) checked with the two travel agencies, both with government approved letters which are decades old,” they stated. Like Amber, they had also thought the deal was fine, since the travel package was directly linked to the agency. “Who knew you could still (get in trouble) after being so careful,” they sighed.
Miau Miau and Gary have also promised to do what they can to help the victims. But, they also publicly asked Umance to return and clarify the issue. “We can’t (handle) your (problems),” they said drily. However, both artists have stated that they are not shirking responsibility for the matter.
“We sincerely apologise to fans and victims who trusted us. We are very sorry we recommended you a bad travel experience,” they stated. “Additionally, we have handed the matter over to professionals and (they) will be handling (the issue) properly.” However, Miau Miau, Gary and Amber have stated that fans who ordered through them can request for help through their new hotline.
This isn’t the first time Umance has been in hot water over his business. Previously, he was heavily slammed for his alleged mismanagement of his SuperM Wholesales Mart venture.
Well, we sincerely hope things get better for all the victims soon. And like many others, we’re also hoping Umance will come forward to explain things.
