Local Brand Under Fire After Founder Joked About SOPs & COVID-19 Clusters At Fashion Show
Photos show that guests at the event did not wear face masks and no physical distancing measures were enforced.
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A local fashion brand is embroiled in controversy after netizens pointed out that guests at their fashion show did not abide by COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs)
A fairly large crowd attended the Glorious Raya 2021 fashion show by local brand Leeyanarahman Collection at Glam Hall in Kuala Lumpur.
The event took place on Wednesday, 24 March.
Image via @leeyanarahman.co (Instagram)
Photos and videos uploaded on the brand's social media pages show that guests at the event did not wear face masks and no physical distancing measures were enforced
Image via Leeyanarahman.co (Facebook)
Image via Leeyanarahman.co (Facebook)
In a video, one of the founders joked about COVID-19 clusters and even said, "Tonight, there are no SOPs here at all"
"If you come and get fined, just claim it from [redacted]," he added.
A woman who was in the video with him then said, "So it will be called the Leeyanarahman Glorious Raya cluster."
Image via Instagram
Netizens criticised the brand and called for police to investigate the incident
One person wrote, "No social distance at all, face masks or whatever. Not only this, now all award shows, influencer or business events have people attending without face masks. Then, we're the ones being fined RM10,000."
Image via Twitter
Tagging the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), another person tweeted, "Please investigate this. It's really a breach of SOP. The founder is even proud to say that people are not abiding by SOP. And then they'll trouble all of Malaysia. Fine each of them!"
Image via Twitter
Another netizen tagged PDRM as well as the National Security Council and said, "Please take action and fine them RM10,000. Us commoners are fined every day, will T20 folks not be fined? Please take action."
Image via Twitter
The brand's owner has since come forward to apologise and clarify the situation
In an Instagram post, Nur Liyana, or also known as @yaana.lee online, wrote, "A lot of people messaged me about the Leeyanarahman Glorious Raya fashion show yesterday that went viral on Twitter for not abiding with SOP. My team took a few photos of us following SOP."
"We limited the entrance to only one door. All guests checked-in using MySejahtera, we carried out temperature screenings. Guests entering the hall must wear face masks. And even when a few people did not bring face masks, our team provided masks for them to wear."
"And the hall can fit 400 to 500 people. But we only invited half of that number, which is 200 people. And there was physical distancing between the chairs."
"It's just that, while we abide with SOP, maybe there was an oversight on our part. When guests were inside, most of them took off their masks because they wanted to take photos. We apologise for our negligence and carelessness."
Image via @yaana.lee (Instagram)
Image via @yaana.lee (Instagram)
Following the backlash, she has since set her account on private.
Remember to limit your movement and keep practising physical distancing. Watch the latest update on the COVID-19 situation here:
The same brand was previously criticised for damaging public property during a photoshoot in the city centre:
Police have launched investigations on several other online personalities for breaching SOPs:
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