Malaysian influencer fined $12,800 for video of teens giving homeless man leftover chicken bones

A Malaysian social media personality or influencer was fined RM40,000 (S$12,800) on Jan 29 for posting a video of three teenagers giving leftover rice and discarded chicken bones to a homeless man.

Tang Sie Luk, 23, was found guilty by a Malaysian court of creating and uploading the video to his Instagram account.

The video – running for more than a minute – became widely distributed on social media in August.

In the video, three teens can be seen claiming to “want to do a good deed”.

The video cuts to them eating fried chicken from a fast-food eatery. One person is heard saying that it would be a waste to throw away the chicken bones. The three teens are then seen stuffing the bones into a packet of rice.

In the final part of the clip, the teens approach a homeless man sleeping outside a Johor Bahru restaurant and give him the packet. The homeless man thanks them, but it is unclear if he later eats the rice and bones.

Tang, who was unrepresented, was charged with knowingly creating and posting an offensive video with the intent to cause annoyance, reported Bernama news agency.

Tang apologised and asked for a minimum fine, saying he was “remorseful”, the report added.

The prosecutor asked the court to impose a deterrent sentence to punish Tang, as well as to prevent others from committing similar offences.

He pleaded guilty, and the judge ordered four months’ jail in default of the fine, reported Bernama. Tang paid the fine.

Tang could have been fined up to RM500,000, imprisoned for a maximum of two years, or both.

Tang on Jan 30 put up a post on his Instagram account with a video of him admitting he made a mistake, and asking for a chance to turn over a new leaf.

He swears he would never film such videos again. After apologising again, he kowtows thrice.

So far, the video has garnered more than 400,000 views.