IT IS NEVER a joke to run a thriving business which went ultra-brisk thanks to the power of social media.
There is so much toil, tears and sweat that the proprietor of Nasi Lemak Akka Viral (her business was officially registered on April 27) can attest to – obviously more than the five, six or seven hours of hardship endured by her customers who queue up to taste her food.
With majority of her customers understanding her ‘plight’, sympathy and support had poured in as she was recently confronted and harassed by a rude female customer who accused her of allowing a customer to jump queue (which was not the case).
The almost two-minute incident on Friday (April 28) which was captured on various social media platforms – and went viral as with the stall owner Sangeetha’s very own nasi lemak – saw countless netizens rallying behind her and even praising her teenage son for standing up for his mother.
Reacting to the Twitter thread started by JagSingh (@JackSingh01), amelya (@TheMiaJamal) remarked that she would have reacted in the same manner as the boy although the provocative customer ticked him off as unruly and having uttered foul language in the process of defending her mother.
“I love that the boy is so defensive of her mom because I’ll be doing the same thing as a kid and my mom would shove me like that, too,” she pointed out with Nona #FreePalestine (@The_Gathis) opining that “he shouldn’t be restrained”.
“Let him be angry. Give him the freedom he deserves even though I don’t understand what he was saying. I fully support him.”
Nik Hadid (@syahiraaahmad) was also full of praises for the son “for wanting to back up her mother. “If I were to be the kid, I would already have whacked that customer.”
Over at TikTok, the son was also praised by ashini_vk for defending her mother. “The boy was silent, and they all were doing their things until the lady triggered them with her words. Dei thambi, you’re great. Good boy.”
Her view was seconded by Shamu Gunalan who was proud of his action as Keesavan, too, paid respect to the boy.
Political commentator M. Vivekananthan advised Sangeeta not to be perturbed by those who are trying to create ruckus at her stall.
“Instead of trying to answer the lady who tried to mess, Sangeeta must ignore her and focus on her business,” he told FocusM. “Starting a small business is never easy, and it takes a lot of hard work and perseverance to keep it going. But, when feelings of envy and jealousy grow, they can lead to bullying.”
Concurring with Vivekananthan, SueN (@SueSunit) reckoned that it is so unnecessary to stage a quarrel over nasi lemak.
“If you know that the (product) has gone viral and there is a long queue, then a better planning is required,” she suggested.
“But why do you have to put someone down with your vulgar words in front of the kid? Oh, my Indian community … please start to support each other and not try to destroy each other. This is very sad.”
Last but not least, gratitude should go to netizen Thiban Subbramaniam who is also the special functions officer to the Economy Minister for facilitating the registration of Sangeetha’s micro business. – April 30, 2023
