KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 — A marketing gimmick to lure customers to the AK-47 Nasi Kandar Restaurant was shot down by City Hall after the owners were issued a compound.
The nasi kandar shop, located in Jalan Sultan Ismail, bears the signboard of two Kalashnikovs and another picture of a uniformed man holding the assault rifle.
A reader who alerted The Malay Mail was baffled to how the authorities allowed such a signboard to be erected.
“This signboard is sending out the wrong message. What more in light of the recent shooting cases in the country,” said the reader, who did not wish to be named.
Checks by The Malay Mail at the restaurant yesterday revealed that the eatery has been in operation since 2009, with most of the workers being foreigners.
Ironically, restaurant owner Imann Huraiya felt there was nothing wrong with the signboard.
“Anyone should be allowed to name their restaurant however they like. I have always loved AK-47s so I named it that,” Imann said.
She explained the name AK-47 is derived from the initials of her two sons, Aiman and Khir, who were coincidentally aged four and seven when she opened her first outlet in Selayang in 2006.
“My sons’ names and ages at the time we opened our first outlet coincidentally inspired me to name the restaurant AK-47,” she said, adding that her sons have always been fascinated with uniformed bodies and guns.
Imann admitted the signboard did not get the approval from City Hall but insists her restaurant is not illegal, as she has a trading licence from the local authority.
When alerted, Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib said the signboard was “clearly illegal”.
“It is offensive, insensitive and wrong. You cannot put up a signboard at an eatery with a picture of a rifle as it is not allowed and not part of our guidelines. The owners will definitely have to take it down.”
Kuala Lumpur City Hall has instructed the AK-47 Nasi Kandar Restaurant to remove the offending signboard. — The Malay Mail pic
