On 24 January, four Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) workers abruptly cut off the electricity of a dim sum restaurant in Bangi, Selangor. This sudden action has caused the business owner to suffer a massive loss as all the electrical appliances stopped functioning in the middle of lunch time.
According to the business owner Kuok, 68, the officers pulled out the fuse link at 3pm without notifying him.
“When I clarified with them, they (TNB workers) showed me a red bill from TNB and said I have an outstanding amount of RM3,143. They even outright asked me to belanja them coffee to settle the problem right there and then.”
“Since I pay my electricity bill every month, I refused their offer, and insisted that they plug in the fuse link while I go to TNB office to clarify the issue,” Kuok said.
Source: Sinchew
After negotiating for 10 minutes, they reluctantly plugged in the fuse, but the problem wasn’t over yet.
The next day, the same four workers appeared again at 11am to cut off the electricity, which also happens to be the peak hour for the business. This time, they showed another red bill, which stated that Kuok had an outstanding amount of RM2,084.
Am I the only one who noticed that the outstanding amount has differed by RM1,000 in just one day?
Source: Sinchew
“Their actions were exactly like ruthless debt collectors and my customers quickly left the restaurant fearing for their safety. Since I couldn’t stop the workers, I immediately went to the TNB Bangi branch to sort things out.”
Kuok said that till 2pm, the company couldn’t provide an explanation to him and advised him to return. They also said that they will contact him once they’ve sorted things out.
“Under the arrangement of TNB, the workers plugged in the fuse link, but the business has been ruined. I took a picture of the worker who asked me to belanja him coffee.”
“When he saw what I was doing, he raised his name tag and asked me to lodge a complain. He even rushed to the front and pulled out the fuse link again, thus cutting out the electricity once again.”
That’s not his only loss, because in conjunction with Thaipusam and Federal Territory Day, Kuok had stockpiled RM30,000 worth of food to cater to the long weekend’s business. Sadly, due to the repeated power cuts, some of the ingredients turned stale and had to be discarded. What a waste!
It was understood that the big freezer kept causing the circuit breaker to ‘trip’, thus Kuok had to fork out RM4,000 to buy a new one. In total, he lost about RM10,000 in this incident.
After learning about this incident, the Selayang assemblyman said that the workers should’ve followed their standard operating procedure where consumers would be given a 14-day grace period.
Source: Sinchew
A spokesperson from TNB Bangi branch then said that internal investigation is still ongoing. Apparently when the worker said belanja minum, he was requesting for a cup of free water and not bribe, according to the spokesperson.
Hmmm….
Well, let’s hope Kuok and TNB can settle the case amicably so that this will not happen again in the future. By the way, what does ‘belanja minum’ actually mean to you guys in Malaysia? 😉
Also read: Burglar Who Broke into 50 Shops in Klang Valley Gets Unexpected Note From Shop Owners
