All You Should Know About The Limo Fiasco Involving Rajinikanth And Amber Chia
Model Amber Chia was forced to wait for nearly 3 hours at KLIA after the limousine which was supposed to pick her up for an event was used to ferry Tamil superstar Rajinikanth to Malacca for the shooting of his mob-thriller Kabali.
By Sadho Ram — 31 Oct 2015, 06:49 PM
Earlier on Monday, a 25-year-old limousine driver from a Petaling Jaya-based car rental company Hyper Luxury Car.com was hired to chauffeur superstar Rajinikanth to a hotel in KL at about 4 pm
According to a report in The Star, a spokesperson for the company said they had sent a stretch limousine adorned with "Hello Kitty" stickers, for use by the actor from 4 pm to 6 pm. However, Rajinikanth only arrived at KLIA at 6pm.
Upon this, the driver told Rajinikanth's local representatives, Malik Streams Sdn Bhd, that he had to rush to pick up another VIP, model Amber Chia, for the opening of a restaurant in Selangor. However, the local representatives then confiscated the driver's handphone and forced him to drive to Malacca. The terrified driver just obeyed the instructions, The Star cited the car rental company spokesman as saying.
Following which the car rental company tried to contact the driver but his mobile went unanswered. "We were desperate as the other event was at 6pm the same day," the spokesman said, adding the driver called them only upon reaching Malacca at 8.20pm. "Our company is facing flak from the second client just because of the breach."
Next day, 27 October, the car rental company lodged a police report at the Brickfields district police headquarters, The Star reported
After which, Malik Stream Sdn Bhd's managing director Abdul Malik Datshigeer lodged a police report at the Dang Wang police station
Malik Streams Sdn Bhd managing director Abdul Malik Dasthigeer said he was baffled car rental company Hyper Luxury Car.com had accused them of “forcing” a 25-year-old stretch limousine driver to take international superstar Rajinikanth to Malacca.
“We did not hijack the car. We rented it for RM2,500,” he said.
“We told the driver earlier we were changing the location from Shangri-La Hotel (Kuala Lumpur) to Malacca due to security issues as we were told Rajinikanth’s fans started gathering at the hotel.
How can we hijack the limousine when we had police escorting us to Malacca? I hope this can be resolved amicably and we don’t have to resort to legal action.”
themalaymailonline.com
Meanwhile, it was also reported that State Private Affairs, Human Resources and NGO Affairs Committee chairman M.S. Mahadevan, appointed by CM Idris Haron to facilitate the filming in Malacca, also claimed to have had a bad experience with the local representatives
Mahadevan claimed that a group of 20 men wearing T-shirts claiming to be bodyguards of the actor had roughed up state dignitaries and media personnel during the courtesy call by the “superstar” on Malacca Governor Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob on Tuesday.
Those who were at the Governor’s office were all invited but Mahadevan said they were aggressively shoved aside by the “untrained bodyguards”. Mahadevan later called the local organisers, and was told Rajinikanth himself had asked the bodyguards not to escort him.
On claims of "untrained bodyguards", Abdul Malik said:
“We have stopped using the services of the security company. We are temporarily using our internal bodyguards for Rajinikanth and the production crew as we arrange for a permanent security firm to take over the task.”
themalaymailonline.com
On the other hand, the limousine, adorned with Hello Kitty stickers, in which Rajinikanth was chauffeured, was actually meant to pick Amber Chia up for the opening of the Hello Kitty Gourmet Cafe at Sunway Pyramid on Monday evening.
Amber was kept waiting at KLIA for nearly 3 hours for her ride.
“When I saw that the Kollywood superstar had taken my limo, it’s okay. It’s just that the travel agency should have informed me earlier,” she told The Star Online.
Chia had waited at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for nearly three hours, having expected the same limo to pick her up for the opening of the Hello Kitty Gourmet Cafe at Sunway Pyramid.
“When I heard about the hijacking, I don’t think a celebrity would do that. I trust Rajinikanth and fully respect him. He won’t do that to another person,” she said.
To be on time for the Hello Kitty event, Chia did her hair and makeup during her transit time in Ho Chi Minh and chose not to check in her luggage. On arrival in KLIA, the model was ready to leave for her next engagement at 6.20pm.
“But when I called the driver, he said he thought my arrival time was 7.30pm. I asked him how long I had to wait, and he told me he needed 45 minutes to reach KLIA,” she said.
An hour later, Chia called to check on the driver's whereabouts. “He said he had an emergency in Malacca, and needed another 45 minutes,” Chia recounted. Her third call to him at 8.20pm went unanswered.
With her client pushing the cafe's opening to 9pm, Amber finally took a taxi to Sunway Pyramid and arrived 20 minutes before the mall's closing time of 10pm, The Star Online reported
Chia clarified that she only waited around that long as the client had invested into beautifying the limo, and her paid appearance included arriving at the cafe's opening in the vehicle.
“I had to deliver my responsibility. I just feel bad for my client, and they apologised to me. They kept asking me to wait for the limo, and I thought that was because they spent a lot on the sticker,” she said.
She clarified that her client said the limousine was booked for the whole day.
According to Chia, other bloggers were also left in the lurch as the vehicle was supposed to pick them up for a limo tour with the media before a photo opportunity in front of the cafe. However, the events of that night are still something of a mystery, and she looks forward to her client providing a full account of the incident.
“I hope I’m right, because to take away someone’s phone is illegal,” she said of reports that the star’s representatives had confiscated the driver’s mobile device. “I fully respect Rajinikanth and I don’t think he would do this to another person. He is mature,” Chia added.
Meanwhile, speaking to The Malay Mail Online on the presence of "Hello Kitty" sticker on the limousine, Abdul Malik said the vehicle was used for an event and the sticker was not removed when it was used to ferry Rajinikanth from KLIA
“We wanted to use a sticker promoting Kabaali but the company said if the sticker spoiled the paint, we would have to pay for damages. So, we decided against putting any sticker on the vehicle,” Abdul Malik said.
themalaymailonline.com
On the other hand, D'Cinema Sdn Bhd, the official company that has the license to handle Rajinikanth's crew, is disappointed at the turn of events that took place. Its owner Ravi Maraz said his company was supposed to handle all of the crew's requirement but Malik Streams Sdn Bhd had approached the producer and volunteered to arrange transportation services for Rajinikanth.
“They had come in recently to propose purchasing of distribution rights for the film Kabali, which Rajinikanth is here to shoot,” said Ravi.
“Since they (Malik Streams) said they have everything sorted for transportation, we didn’t interfere, but we are shocked to learn (upon reading news) that they had hijacked the limo that was booked for another event later that night in Sunway,” said Ravi.
“I am not saying that he (Malik) is telling a lie. Probably they had booked the limo but from my understanding they had only booked it from 2pm to 4pm. It is not right for them to use the limousine services way past the booking hours,” said Ravi.
therakyatpost.com
He added that the limousine fiasco doesn't reflect well on Malaysia
“It doesn’t reflect well on us as the official agent, neither does it reflect well on our country. I cannot ask the Indian crew or Rajinikanth sir to provide a statement on this as they have more important things to do. I can speak on behalf of them to say that this is unprofessional,” said Ravi.
therakyatpost.com