Trouble brews for tea chain Chagee as calls for boycott intensify

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — To boycott or not to boycott? The Chagee controversy rages on.

The popular beverage chain issued an online apology yesterday in response to claims that it had rigged its Tear & Win contest. However, the backlash has only intensified — this time, for the company’s Bahasa Malaysia version of the statement.

Netizens were quick to criticise the translation, with many speculating that the company had used AI tools like Google Translate or ChatGPT to craft the message.

One user remarked, “Pemilihan perkataan dan susunan ayat tak berapa bagus ya... (The choice of words and sentence structure isn’t very good...)”

The apology, far from calming the storm, has sparked even more outrage.

Calls for a boycott have flooded social media, and the company’s statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) has racked up over 6.2 million views (and counting) as of writing.