Kossan’s head honcho denounces the spread of his demise on social media

“I’M ALIVE and kicking” could well be the response of Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd founder Tan Sri Lim Kuang Sia following a social media posting on his purported demise that has gone viral.

Lim is currently Klang-based Kossan’s group managing director & CEO as well as a non-independent executive director of the smallest among Malaysia’s Big-Four glove maker (after Top Glove Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd and Supermax Corp Bhd).

One Facebook posting by user Rosita Jaafar which was tracked by FocusM has erroneously spelt Lim’s name as “Lim Kwang Sa” as well as mentioned his age as “72” when the company’s board of director’s profile noted his age as “69”.

The fake viral message (top) and Kossan’s clarification

The viral message attributed the cause of “death” to the deadly “super spreader COVID-19 variant.

A check with Kossan’s management revealed that the message was fake and that Lim “is still in the best of health”.

To counter the fake message, Kossan has issued the following clarification which was also disseminated over social media channel:

“FYI, there is a message going around on the departure of of Kossan Rubber MD. This is fake news … the truth is the MD’s third brother Mr Lim Kuan Hwa passed away on May 9. Please disseminate. Thank you.”

Fortunately, the fake news did not affect Kossan’s share price as the counter was up 9 sen or 2.17% to close at RM4.24 with 4.67 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM10.84 bil at the close of today’s shortened session in view of the Hari Raya public holiday tomorrow and Friday.

In a way, this goes to show the maturity on the part of investors who know how to distinguish and “brush aside” fake news which are intended to disrupt market stability. – May 12, 2021

Subscribe and get top news delivered to your Inbox everyday for FREE