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A 17-year-old Malaysian student selling fighting (betta) fish was surprised to discover former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad among his clientele.

Initially, Cheng Jia Yung thought his buyer was joking about being from Mahathir's office, until he realised the delivery address for the fishes was in fact Mahathir's office in Langkawi, Kedah.

Mahathir's office bought six fighting fish from Cheng, and the 96-year-old also recorded his well wishes to the business in a short video.

Order from Mahathir's office

According to his tweets, Cheng's brother is the fish breeder, and Cheng would help his brother promote the pets online.

From screenshots of Cheng's conversation with his brother, business did not seem to go well and there were no customers in the previous months, despite attempts to sell it on Facebook and Shopee.

Cheng then started promoting his brother's business on his Twitter in June, posting photos of the colourful fishes and tanks for rearing.

Then, on Aug. 14, a buyer approached Cheng on WhatsApp to order six of his betta fishes.

The buyer then told Cheng that the purchase was made on behalf of Mahathir's office, as the ex-prime minister wanted to support Malaysian businesses that are struggling.

WEHH IKAN LAGA SAYA ADA PELUANG DUDUK DALAM OFFICE TUN MAHATHIR😭😭😭🥺 pic.twitter.com/9bUSgpOLCY

— ᴄʜᴇɴɢ♛ (@cheng_jiayung) August 14, 2021

Cheng thought the buyer was just joking, and was stunned when the buyer instructed him to deliver the fishes to the Langkawi MP's (member of parliament) office.

He did not know how to react to the news at first, and even asked if the buyer was "serious" about it.

The buyer later confirmed and reiterated Mahathir's wishes to support "businesses that are working hard despite these tough times".

"You can write a letter or short message Tun M (Mahathir)", the buyer added.

Cheng did as he was told and sent the fishes along with a page-long letter and his photos to Mahathir.

Mahathir responded with a video

A few days later on Aug. 24, Cheng got a personal response from Mahathir in a recorded video, holding his letter and photo while commenting on his fish business.

COMELLLL😭 THANK YOUUUU TUNM 🥺❤❤ pic.twitter.com/IYEerCoIA9

— ᴄʜᴇɴɢ♛ (@cheng_jiayung) August 24, 2021

In the video, Mahathir thanked Cheng and said that he thinks it can grow into a "big business".

"Many people will be interested in rearing these fighting fish, and I hope you can achieve success with your business, thank you," Mahathir added.

Cheng tweeted that he was "touched" by the gesture and wished Mahathir good health, happiness and a long life.

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Top image via @cheng_jiayung/Twitter