Tofu pudding seller gives RM10,000 to Najib fund, citing help received in 2012

KUALA LUMPUR: Tau fu fah entrepreneur Sunny Coco has donated RM10,000 to the Najib Razak Solidarity Fund, saying he wanted to repay help he says he received from the former prime minister in 2012.

Sunny Coco, whose real name is Datuk Seow Chau Pen, shared the story in a Facebook post on September 21, including a receipt for the donation.

He said he was placed under restricted residence in Manjung, Perak, from 2009.

When Najib made an official visit to Manjung in 2012, he asked the local village head to help him submit an appeal letter to the Home Ministry, seeking permission to return home early to care for his elderly parents.

The ministry later informed him that his restricted residence had been ended early, he said.

"For others, it might be just a letter or a bit of assistance. But for me at that time, it was an opportunity to start anew in life," he said.

After returning home, he started a tau fu fah business and gradually expanded it.

RM10,000 is 10,000 bowls

Explaining what the donation meant to him, Sunny Coco said his business made a profit of only about RM1 on each bowl of tau fu fah sold.

"RM10,000 to me means 10,000 bowls," he said.

He described the donation as a personal decision to acknowledge the help he had received, and not politically motivated.

The account of the 2012 assistance is Sunny Coco's own. The Home Ministry has not commented on the matter.

The RM50 million fund

The Najib Razak Solidarity Fund was launched by Umno to help settle the RM50 million fine that is a condition for Najib to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest until August 23, 2028.

Umno secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said earlier that collections reached RM1 million within the first 24 hours.