MDEC Chairman Slammed By Netizens For Spreading Fake ‘Corona Cure’ Herbal Drink
In today’s episode of higher-ups having no sense of accountability for their actions, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) Chairman, Rais Hussin shared on his Twitter account a dubious cure for prevention of the coronavirus.
The cure happens to be an herbal drink called Kashayam which is a concoction of turmeric powder, cloves, lemon, ginger and water. Sounds refreshing, but I doubt the drink has any miraculous abilities to cure a viral disease as dangerous as Covid-19.
However, the chairman gave his seal of approval by penning the caption, “Try this… I have started… May help to prevent virus attack!”
Take a look:
Try this … I have started … May help to prevent virus attack ! pic.twitter.com/MzoQjA9TpR
— Dr. Rais Hussin (@raishussin) January 14, 2021
Don’t get your hopes up though because this alleged cure has been debunked a year ago after going viral in India.
While the drink does have health benefits due to the ingredients that can promote stronger immunity towards the common cold, it cannot be used to fight a global pandemic.
When netizens began pointing this out to the chairman, Rais did a full U-turn and clapped back with this tweet:
This is to prevent virus attack ! Did I say Covid19 ! ♂️
— Dr. Rais Hussin (@raishussin) January 14, 2021
Of course the chairman did not explicitly write Covid-19 in his tweet, but the picture he shared clearly included those words.
Being a man who prioritises truth, integrity and research (as per his Twitter bio), he should have been aware that his post could fuel misunderstanding and possibly spread fake news.
Fed-up by the lack of accountability by the people of influence on social media, netizens (yet again) had a field day criticising the chairman.
Here are some of their quips:
A man with a PhD promoting pseudoscience ♂️ https://t.co/JFq6Pq2Bjw
— Akif Basri (@akif_basri) January 14, 2021
You are better off drinking this tbh. https://t.co/UtBgEF4IfN pic.twitter.com/C44nziRzIR
— ian babe™️ (@f15teen15) January 14, 2021
Mohon @kkmm_gov siasat sedangkan MCMC telah melarikan diri. https://t.co/ed2UOtZg5J pic.twitter.com/jB4N195iUw
— (@ruffleseed) January 14, 2021