With Chinese New Year less than a month away, it comes to no surprise that many families may already be caught up in the furor of their festive preparations. From the obligatory bright-red and yellow decorations to usher in prosperity, to festive cookies and soft drinks to welcome guests, most homes will be replete with all the trappings of the festive season come 1st February.
Mad dash for soft drinks in supermarket
But for some shoppers, festive preparations appear to have gone awry after video footage recently surfaced showing a flock of men and women wildly crowding around a pallet of soft drinks, making a mad-dash attempt to grab them for themselves. The incident, which took place in a supermarket located in Sitiawan, was said to have been sparked by a promotional price that was being offered on the beverages, which are a popular staple during Chinese New Year.
Despite obvious calls for social distancing in the country, what with the rise of the more transmissible Omicron variant in the country, shoppers appeared caught up in a complete frenzy as they attempted to fight in a mad grab for the drinks. In one of the videos shared by community Facebook page Inforoadblock, the man filming behind the camera laughs, describing the scene as being akin to a ‘robbery’.
“Look at this! It’s like a robbery. Coke being sold for RM20.88.” he said.
In fact, a video posted by netizen Sing Jia showed how some shoppers didn’t even wait for the stocks of soft drinks to be unloaded from their pallets, choosing instead to grab for them as they were being moved out of the warehouse by supermarket employees!
For comparison’s sake, the price for Coca Cola Less Calories in a pack of 24 cans was being sold for RM44.40, which has already been sold out.
However, this mad frenzy for soft drinks didn’t come without consequence as according to Harian Metro, the Royal Malaysian Police has issued a RM1,000 compound under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 to the supermarket for flouting COVID-19 SOPs.
According to Majung Regional Chief of Police Assistant Commissioner Nor Omar Sappi, the supermarket’s management had been called in to provide an explanation and assist in investigations.
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