Johor crown prince pays for S$340,000 worth of groceries at Aeon Tebrau City

JOHOR BARU — Hundreds of shoppers rushed to Aeon Mall supermarket in Tebrau City in Johor Baru on Wednesday (April 11) evening after word was spread that Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Ibrahim was paying for the groceries amounting to about RM1 million (S$340,000).

Previously, the Johor crown prince and his wife Che' Puan Khaleeda Bustamam were shopping in the mall when he decided to treat “his subjects” to essential groceries.

It was learnt that the allocation was about RM3,000 per trolley and the “shopping spree” started at 7pm as Tunku Ismail announced it through a loud hailer surrounded by shoppers.

The hour-long spree saw hundreds of shoppers rushing and loading their trolleys with groceries.

The spree ended at 8pm and Aeon Mall’s management had to temporary close the supermarket’s exit and entrance to facilitate the shoppers.

Moments later, in a posting on Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page, Tunku Ismail wrote that that he is not a politician and therefore, do not need any votes.

“I’m no politician, I do not need votes. But I genuinely love my people. Always with you Bangsa Johor,” he wrote, using the term used to refer to Johoreans.

After 20 minutes, the post garnered more than 2,600 favourable responses as well as 334 comments and 657 shares.

Photos of him and happy shoppers were also uploaded with the post.

This shock move came after Tunku Ismail received public backlash over a post on Saturday night where he appeared to support ruling coalition Barisan Nasional.

He also said changing a country’s fate and improving the system would not happen by bringing down a government, but by changing it from within.

The prince also launched a thinly-veiled attack on former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, without naming him, and warned Johoreans not to be duped by a “forked-tongue” individual.

Tunku Ismail later denied having any political bias, and had called for respect when it comes to differences.

Yesterday, Johor police said investigations had been launched after several reports were lodged against comments towards Tunku Ismail Ibrahim, following the latter’s remark on the general election. THE NEW STRAITS TIMES