Yeo (seated) shows the police report he lodged over the allegation, while several Ali Baba staffers hold up their blood test results which state they are HIV-negative.
SIBU: Ali Baba Restaurant manager Eddie Yeo is refuting a viral claim on social media that the restaurant chain’s owner and chef had tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.
“It is a total lie,” Yeo said of the allegation during a press conference here yesterday.
To refute the claim, he said all employees of the restaurant – himself included – went for a blood test on May 9 and all of them had tested negative.
He added the reports of the test have also been sent to the divisional Health Department office.
“I have proof that there’s no truth in the allegation. I have also lodged a police report (over the matter),” he said.
Yeo said he was in China when he came to know of the allegation via a WhatsApp message on April 27, adding that business at the chain’s three outlets have
since plummeted by over 50 per cent.
“I don’t know for certain why the HIV allegation suddenly surfaced, but I do not discount it is due to business rivalry.”
Ali Baba Restaurant has over 30 employees.
It serves halal food, with Bumiputeras making up about 80 per cent of its patrons.