Shipping carts with filled groceries and other goods at the Aeon Big hypermarket in Kluang. — Picture courtesy of Twitter/@ayuumaizurah

KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 — Shoppers have converged at the Aeon Big hypermarket in Kluang over yet another rumour that the Johor crown prince would pay for their haul.

The rumour that Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Ibrahim would appear in Kluang had surfaced on social media at noon today, local daily Sin Chew Daily reported.

According to the paper, it observed that over a hundred customers of various races had at around 2pm gathered at the Aeon Big hypermarket in Kluang, noting that some of them had even filled up their trolleys with goods and with others joining in upon hearing of the rumour.

Malay Mail has contacted Aeon Big for clarification and is awaiting the company’s response.

At the time of writing, there was no announcement on Aeon Big’s website or its official Facebook page regarding the rumour linked to its Kluang outlet.

Earlier today, over 1,000 customers reportedly flooded the Econsave hypermarket in Pontian, Johor over a similar rumour, with social media posts showing some queuing up at the cashier counters since 10.30am with their shopping trolleys.

Econsave operations manager Mas Imran Adam has since said the rumour that was believed to have been spread through a voice note on social media was in fact “fake news”, adding that the police have confirmed that the allegation was “fake”.

He said police had arrived this morning to help disperse the crowd, but said some customers were still hopeful that the Johor crown prince would arrive at 12.30pm.

With the rumour proven untrue, Mas Imran said the Econsave hypermart will now have to take up to two days to clear and return all the items taken by customers back to their rightful place.

Yesterday, hundreds of shoppers rushed to Aeon Mall supermarket in Tebrau City after word spread that the Tunku Ismail was paying for the groceries amounting to about RM1 million.

The Johor crown prince and his wife Che’ Puan Khaleeda Bustamam were shopping in the mall when he decided to treat shoppers to essential groceries.

It was learnt that the allocation was about RM3,000 per trolley and the “shopping spree” started at 7pm as Tunku Ismail announced it through a loud hailer surrounded by shoppers.

The hour-long spree saw hundreds of shoppers rushing and loading their trolleys with groceries.

The supermarket was temporarily closed this morning and some parts remain shuttered, purportedly to clean the mess caused by shoppers who were left out.

Dekat kluang ada yang bagi fake news habis Aeon Big sana org terjah sekali TMJ tak dtg... Lain kali jgn sebarkan sesuatu perkara tu kalau korang pon tak pasti lagi. Kesian lah sikit kat staff Aeon nk kena kemas balik brg yg korang dah amik ni..



Cr pic fb haliza ismail pic.twitter.com/jTi391f85m — 蒂妮 哈芝拉 (@Diylan96) 12 April 2018