'Fix this & get my vote': Malaysian influencer's viral video gets potholes patched in 3 days

Malaysian influencer and milk tea shop owner, Chong Jia Wern, jokingly offered his vote to any politician who could help fix the pothole-riddled back alley behind his shop in Mount Austin, Johor Bahru.

He posted the video of the water-logged alley on Instagram on Saturday (June 6). 

And to his surprise, the road was fixed within three days.

Chong's video has garnered over 780,000 views with more than 28,000 likes as at Wednesday.

Before posting the video, he claimed that he raised several complaints with the local authorities, but there was no clear resolution.

He decided to raise the issue again through a video since the Johor state election is approaching.

Johor Bahru city councillor Ng Yew Aik, who oversees the Mount Austin area, responded to Chong's video on Sunday explaining that the local authority had approved a budget to repair the back alley, and it was patched within three days.

Ng also thanked Chong for monitoring and highlighting the issue, while Chong praised the city council for the quick response.

Netizens applaud Chong

Netizens praised his initiative for taking the matter to social media.

"Thank you for sharing, this method is nice too! I'm also going to find out if there's a pothole in my neighbourhood," said one netizen.

"This is how you make things work," said another netizen, adding that "capable people use their words to solve problems; incapable people use their words to create them".

Another commented: "Wow, there should be more people like you, should be a lot more hurry to fix this hole."

Some even proposed that Chong should enter politics.

"You are a great fit to be a politician. With your personality, means, logic of thinking, not joining a political party is really a big regret in Malaysian political circles," commented a netizen.

"It's your turn to run (for office)," said another, in a nod to the upcoming state election. 

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helmy.saat@asiaone.com