The case occurred in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and began as one of many videos created for social media. Three young people decided to record what they presented as an action intended to help a person living on the street. The difference was that, instead of buying him food, they used the remains of the chicken they themselves had eaten at KFC.
The person who appeared in the recording was Mohammad Danish, aged 47, who was sleeping outside a restaurant. The young people approached him, woke him up, and handed him a package. Danish later said that he believed they were giving him food and that, upon opening it, he found rice accompanied by numerous chicken bones. The video captured his reaction and was later posted on social media.
The recording sparked outrage among users who considered that the situation had turned the vulnerability of a homeless man into entertainment. The case reached the authorities and ended up involving the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, which described the content as “extremely offensive”. The influencer Tang Sie Luk, known as Aluk, was later prosecuted for publishing the material.
However, the story also had a second version. Those involved claimed that Danish knew they were recording and that everything had been prepared for the video. They also maintained that the man had received a full meal and that the bones had been used solely for the recording. Danish, for his part, later said that he held no grudge against the young people.
Even with those explanations, Tang pleaded guilty and ended up paying RM40,000, around US$12,800, a figure that turned that recording, which lasted only a few minutes, into one of the most striking examples of how far content created to attract attention on social media can go.