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    KFC fight video sparks racial controversy

    By Chua Yini | Yahoo! Newsroom – Fri, Feb 10, 2012

    A viral video that captured a brawl involving a customer and staff at a Malaysian KFC outlet has sparked allegations of racism online.

    In a press briefing on Thursday, the Chinese customer, graphic designer Danny Ng, with the help of Malaysian Democratic Action Party Member of Parliament Lim Lip Eng, denied making racial slurs during the incident.

    Some of those who viewed the video of the brawl posted on Youtube accused the 26-year-old of provoking the Malay staff in the Shah Alam outlet with racial comments, even though the grainy video (shown below) did not display any elements of racism.

    The 28-second clip attracted more than 100,000 views online. It shows the brawl, which occurred in the middle of the crowded restaurant while other customers stood there and recorded the scene. A few were caught smiling on camera.

    KFC staff caught on video attacking a customer.



    In the press conference, Ng said that the incident started when he went to redeem his KFC vouchers at the outlet on Monday evening with his wife and sister.

    The trio arrived at about 10pm but there was a long queue. After waiting for about 45 minutes, the staff announced that the supply of chicken had run out. The upset customers, including Ng, then complained, which provoked the kitchen staff to come out and behave in an aggressive manner. 

    Ng then asked to see the manager, but he said the staff made rude comments instead. As the exchange became more heated, Ng’s wife claimed that she saw an employee carrying steel bars and pulled him out of the restaurant.

    However, Ng refused to let the matter go and returned to the outlet with his handphone to take photos and record names for a formal complaint. Mayhem broke out when a staff member ran out from the kitchen and attacked him. Ng claimed that the man “grabbed his neck from behind”, punched the back of his head and kicked him.

    “I won’t go back to KFC, not for a long time. I’m mentally distressed,” he said at the press conference, according to The Amo Times.

    Ng’s wife also claimed that the same man who attacked her husband accidentally kicked her when she attempted to break up the scuffle.

     “(The man was) facing me with an angry face, looked like he wanted to beat me up, too,” she said.
    According to Malaysian paper The Star, a spokesman from the company had confirmed three employees had been suspended pending investigations.

    How do you feel about this article?

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    • Ｍａｎｊｕｓｒｉ
      Ｍａｎｊｕｓｒｉ  •  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  •  3 months ago
      Obviously the customer was beaten head on !
    • thiban
      thiban  •  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  •  3 months ago
      Mamak shop for me...
    • Google
      Google  •  3 months ago
      Didn't heard any racial remark but did see flying punchs from KFC staff.
      A bunch of guys running out from the kitchen... so KFC didn't take any action?
      I the video I see 1 of the KFC staff (malay) holding the other staff back and there are also a lot of malay customers around. So I don't believe that chinese guy is crazy enough to make racial remark. If he did, I believe the whole malay crowd there will be against him but we don't see that.
      • A Yahoo! User 3 months ago
        Trust me. Only racist remarks can trigger such. I've seen it happend at the now defunct Denny's Restaurant at Orchard Point. A group of angmoh made some racist remarks abt the waiters straight in his face (local Chinese), what happened next? Whole bunch of boys/men from the kitchen, including the Manager, hammered them like hell, with chairs & all, in full view of us. Nope, no one called the police : )
      • DRAGON
        DRAGON 3 months ago
        sure or not or you male up stories never heard before.
      • A Yahoo! User 3 months ago
        eh i got one more.....old story also, you never heard before one....at Lau Pa Sat satay Street...also same situation.. ..Men/women who got whacked in public for racist remarks, rightly deserve it.
    • Volkwagen
      Volkwagen  •  3 months ago
      Obviously the KFC staff throw the first punch.
      So sack him
    • Chan
      Chan  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      Really Satu Malaysia.
      Why need to resolve to violence ? First the KFC staffs were caught playing with uncook food , next this kind of "professional" customer service . Who would want to go KFC for food?
      • death
        death 3 months ago
        yeah I remembered when I ordered for fish fillet twister here in our country, when I got home and took a bite it was a cheeze something different flavored twister...awful...KFC suck at times...
    • M
      M  •  3 months ago
      I think it's poor management and planning inside the kitchen. As the queing forming up, the manager should have check the number of chickens left and tasked a staff to inform queing customers about the possibility of no more chicken. To wait for 45 mins then tell people no more chicken, how do queing customer feels. Poor management, poor and hooligan staff, M'sian police should take actions against the KFC staff who used force against the customers. Just happen it's between a Malay (staff) and Chinese (customer). It's election times, Najib Govt better solve this problem amicably otherwise it will be a political cost.
      • Siti Yuslisa
        Siti Yuslisa 3 months ago
        Malaysian police? A friend of mine got beaten up for God knows what reason! Called the police, and they can still ask us how to go to where we are? After everything ended,still no police came, and didnt even call us back to find out about the situation..Scary...
      • teo
        teo 3 months ago
        If you are Singaporean never go back to Malaysia unless absolutely necessary.
      • Mr m
        Mr m 1 month 29 days ago
        yep singaporean plezzzz dont come to malaysia again. just stay at ur place.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  3 months ago
      No matter who is right or who is wrong but if there is a problem, the staff should call the Manager and let the manager deal with the customer. Whatever it is being aggressive is a NO NO especially in a Service Industry. Customer not necessary right but the KFC staff also should not behave in that manner.
    • Phil
      Phil  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      for sure I will get mad after waiting for 45 min & told that no more chicken to serve. should the service staff make an effort to inform customers, when they realised that chicken is running out ? why made the customer waited so long ?
      • Lim
        Lim 3 months ago
        Even if there is not enough chicken, what has it got to do with the staff? They might be waiting for the stock to come. The stock might be on the way. If customer is not going to wait, just go. Why wait for 45 mins then realise the queue is not moving?
      • A Yahoo! User 3 months ago
        Lim, are u saying, that justifies a punch?
        If not then the answer is clear - your words still dnt stand.
      • Alh
        Alh 3 months ago
        waiting 45 mins for fried chicken from KFC???for sure you'll be considered mad by many. after 10 mins you should know better and move along.
    • Raul
      Raul  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      very simple if the guy used racist word he deserved it!!! if not the staff need to be punished for assault
    • Allgooner
      Allgooner  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      While this can be an isolated case, but if these KFC "gangsters" are let off the hook easily, this will be a customer relations joke in KFC's history!!!
      • E
        E 3 months ago
        to save the name, KFC should closed down all shops in malaysia with immediate effect. ..
      • Allgooner
        Allgooner 3 months ago
        Ok agreed, but for maximum 5 years enough already. They will learn to respect the brand by then, hahahah....
    • Master Lai
      Master Lai  •  Kapar, Malaysia  •  3 months ago
      let say is this chinese man is a malay man who get hit by a chinese KFC staff what will happen n what do u all say??????? we r in a multi races country n we meet many kind of provoke too. if this man is yr friend or yr family member what will u say? pls note every KFC staff salary is depend on customers n not by KFC.without our surport there is no KFC. let go to MACDONALD n boycott KFC to teach all the KFC staff n management a big lesson. take away the lesen of that outlet. if not we will all boycott KFC.
    • Past And Present
      Past And Present  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      seems KFC has failed here? they know their stocks and should pre empt and inform the customers. who likes to be at the receiving end after a long wait and being hungry? raising ones hands and fighting....is it right? and being a service proivder?
    • Dee
      Dee  •  3 months ago
      I visit johore at least 5 times a year coz the exchange rate 1+2.4 is good. After all this visit, this is what i observe. Actually, the malay working in customer service line in restaurant are consider kind but don't try your luck to provoke them coz you will experience just like Ng encounter.Tell you an experience I seen. One day I dine in an Old Town Coffee restaurant, I order a set lunch nasi curry padang set with drink and desert at MYR16.90 but only served before 12PM. Then a malay couple i guess they are from singapore. They came in & seated before 12PM. But by the time they look thru' the menu and decide to order a set lunch special was rejected coz when they submit their order to the waiter at 1230pm, I overheard the malay couple scolded the malay waiter. By their gesture and conversation can tell was quite harsh. The waiter just stopped & walked away to the cashier counter by ignoring them. They couple felt agitated & follow him to the counter. The manager at the cashier seem doing nothing by letting them continuing shooting at each other. At the end, the singaporean couple take down kind of note from the manager & I guess they will wrote in to complain and they just walked off without paying for the coffee they already drank. So maybe you can tell me who is right & wrong? But if I am in foreign land, I will observe their rules and will not get into any commotion with others. Just do it for your safety sake.
    • Keep It Simple, Stupiak!
      Keep It Simple, Stupiak!  •  3 months ago
      Firstly, no matter how unreasonable or rude the customer is, it never justify to resort to violence.

      Secondly, I don't think the customer is being very unreasonable to speak to the manager. C'mon! I'm pretty sure KFC sells fast food. They let a customer wait for 45mins before telling them they run out of chicken. Do they actually hide their supply of chickens in some obscured storage some 10kms underground? Give all take 5mins to check the freezer and another 5mins to check with their supply chain, the staffs had enough time to take a quick nap as well...
    • david
      david  •  3 months ago
      The service SUCK!!!! As I am a frequent traveller for business trip in M'sia.. I found that the services SUCK!.. For example, as I usually travel in weekday morning flight to KL.. The immigrant department services AT KLIA SUCK!! M'sia BOLEH!!! As the queue via the foreign passport is long.. the number of counter opened are limited...so just imagine a person need to take at least 30minutes to clear the custom.... M'sia Boleh!!! These have not been improved at all when I flied in 1st time in KL backdated 2004.. M'sia Boleh!!!

      I don't expect things to be improved overnight.. however open more counter to ease the foreigners.... m'sia boleh!!
    • Alh
      Alh  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      ok why would anyone wait an hour for kentucky fried chicken? ridiculous...supposed to be fast food...if its not going to be fast, why wait?? save yourself the damn aggravation.
    • Ritchie gan
      Ritchie gan  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      The customer may have been upset about the long wait which ended with him getting nothing but the KFC staff should have been more professional. Behaving like hooligans is definitely not acceptable. The staff involved should be sacked and the police should investigate if action needs to be taken so that such an incident will not recur. Shame on KFC !!!
    • Ang
      Ang  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      The chicken fights back....
    • teo
      teo  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      Hooligans: I wonder what the big shareholder of KFC will do next? The name of KFC is dragged down the longkang both in Malaysia and Singapore. Once there was a video of unhappy employee doing some bad things to the food. It turned me off buying KFC when I recall the video. Now this!........Long long time I will not visit KFC.
    • garie
      garie  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      what a shame &over what ? Chicken ? Wow , the staff is so yayapapaya. No malaysia for me , period.
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