'Fake news on rejected durians can potentially affect marketing in China'

PETALING JAYA: The fake news circulating online on rejected Musang King durians from China could potentially affect the marketing of the 'king of fruits' there in the future.
In dismissing the false claims, Regal Group Chief Executive Officer Dominic Su said public must stop the spread of such news as it could hamper the efforts that had been made to promote the fruit in China.
Regal Group is the organiser of the Malaysian Durian Festival 2017 held in Nanning, China from Nov 3 to 5.
"It has potential to negatively affect the proper marketing of Malaysian quality agriculture produces including durians.
"As the festival has contributed to the increase in income for our local farmers, we urge the public to stop spreading any untrue accusations that will negatively affect the good progress that the festival has brought," he told theSun.
A fake Whatsapp message last week had claimed that China rejected 20 containers of Musang King durians due too high insecticide levels.
The message, which was accompanied with a photo of the "rejected" whole durians in pile, stated that the fruits were returned back to Malaysia and sold at a cheap price.
Su said the promotion of durians through the festival had somehow increased the demands of the fruits in China, which could be affected by the false publicity.
"The recently concluded festival was a big hit in China. Many have claimed that the Malaysian durian is one of the best durians they have ever tasted.
"The Chinese community queued up to 3 hours, under the sun and rain, just to have a taste of the Malaysian 'Musang King' durians during the festival," he added.
In a previous statement, Su, along with Rimbunan Hijau's Datuk Robin Wong, stated that Malaysia has yet to be allowed to bring in whole durians into China.
"Hence, the saying that containers of durians were rejected entry into China … is baseless, unfounded, unwarranted and fake," according to the statement.