‘Ramadan slap’ in Malaysia goes viral as social media responds with satire

Social media users are poking fun at the absurdity of the viral video of an elderly Malay man confronting a non-Muslim for not fasting

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Verdi Kornelis Omjai posts a photo of himself eating with his identity card on the table to prove he isn’t Malay on social media. Photo: Facebook/Verdi Kornelis Omjai

Published: 3:39pm, 21 Mar 2025

Malaysian social media users are having a field day over a viral episode of an elderly Malay man slapping a non-Muslim for eating in public during Ramadan, injecting a note of levity into a situation fraught with racial undertones.

A retired civil servant, 65, was charged on Wednesday with slapping an ethnic Chinese man during a confrontation at a convenience store in southern Johor state on Sunday.

Videos went viral of the elderly man berating the 21-year-old for eating in public and demanding that he hand over his identity card to prove he was not a Muslim breaking his fast. The videos did not show the assault.

Social media pounced on the slap bandwagon – especially non-Muslims from Sabah and Sarawak states on Malaysian Borneo who say they regularly get mistaken for Malays.

A screengrab from the viral video showing an elderly Muslim man confronting a non-Muslim for eating during Ramadan. Photo: X/bingbing656

A Facebook post by Verdi Kornelis Omjai, shared over 1,200 times since Thursday, showed him sitting at a coffee shop with his identity card placed on the table as he prepares to tuck into his food.

“[Identity card] ready on the table … worried suddenly I get slapped from behind for not fasting,” read the caption to the picture of the Sabah native looking mock concerned as he starts his meal.