“Only happens when election is near” M’sians Divided Over Viral Video Of ‘Humble’ Defence Minister Eating KFC

Recently, a video featuring caretaker Senior Defence Minister Dato’ Sri Hishammuddin bin Hussein has gone viral on TikTok in which he is seen sitting alone while eating fried chicken at a KFC restaurant. Shared by user @hafiznurruddin17 on the social media platform with the caption “A minister with the heart of the rakyat, very friendly and approachable, Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin Hussein”, the video has garnered over 1.8 million views, 132,700 likes and more than 8,000 comments.

The video itself seems pretty innocent as it only depicts Hishammuddin, who is also the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Sembrong enjoying a nice meal at KFC. However, if you go to the comments section, you’d understand why such a simple video has gone incredibly viral and even had Malaysians in the comments section arguing.

You can watch the whole video below or on TikTok:

Of course, one of the reasons why the video went viral is because of the caption that the original poster wrote, which many said was ‘trying too hard’ and overly complementing the caretaker Senior Minister to the point that a lot of viewers felt that the whole video was staged. More so, considering that Parliament has recently been dissolved and that the 15th General Election is just a few weeks away.

The top comments mostly had that same sentiment in mind, saying that the ‘humbleness’ shown in the video is nothing but a rare occurrence that takes place once every 5 years or when election season is upon us. The top comment read, “This is rare, only once every 5 years. Only appears when it’s time to vote.”

Meanwhile, another top comment gave a backhanded compliment to Hishammuddin, saying, “YB Hishammuddin is the best. He has the heart of the people. Hopefully, Barisan Nasional (BN) will lose emphatically in GE15”. The comment got us in the first half, not gonna lie!

One other comment also poked fun at similar videos that are trending during election seasons, asserting, “The closer we are to GE, the more Ministers we will meet… At KFC, under the table, on top of a tree…”. Another commenter shared the sentiment, claiming that only during election season that Malaysians will be seeing these politicians before they will disappear after GE is over.

However, not all netizens shared such a cynical take on the video, as there are also many that gave testament to how rakyat-oriented the incumbent Sembrong MP is in real life and complimented him for his humbleness. One commenter wrote, “For me, this Minister is without a doubt a good individual, his humbleness and hard-working nature is not just a show. He rarely has any cases or scandals either.”.

This was concurred by another netizen who claims that Hishammuddin has always been this humble, only before this it has never gone viral. Meanwhile, another Malaysian said that the caretaker Senior Minister always approached the people and says hi first whenever he is out and about, and is not only friendly when it is election season.

So, what do you guys think of the whole situation? What are your thoughts on the viral video? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

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