TikToker Rejects Rescue During Flood To Finish Cooking Instant Noodles

Flood victim hits pause on rescue mission for Maggi mee

Malaysians won’t hesitate to whip out a pack of Maggi mee for lunch, dinner, or supper once our tummies start fussing. So when a pair of newlyweds handed out these locally loved instant noodles as wedding favours not too long ago, you can bet that many of us applauded their creativity and took notes too.

But while we all love instant noodles, our liking for this quick-fix meal may easily be dwarfed by this TikToker in Pahang. He shared a series of videos of him cooking packs of Maggi mee in his lorry when he was stranded in a flood, one of many that have been sweeping across several states in Malaysia. And when several bomba personnel came to rescue him, he insisted on finishing his noodles before getting rescued.

Pot of Maggi mee prioritised during flood

The video was shared on TikTok by user @iskandar6400, where it has racked up over 957,000 views at the time of writing. In the video, he could be seen cooking 3 packets of Asam Laksa Maggi mee with a portable gas cooker from inside his lorry when he was stranded in a flood in Pahang. The video also showed flood waters pooling in his vehicle, where he was presumably taking shelter in.

But this wasn’t his first time cooking in his lorry, as a previous TikTok post from 14th December 2020 showed him doing the same thing. In that video, he was seen pairing Maggi mee with rice out of a rice cooker pot.

TikToker cooks Maggi mee in his lorry during flood
Video adapted from: @iskandar6400

As evacuation is being carried out in states affected by heavy rainfalls and floods to keep Malaysians safe at this time, several bomba personnel can be seen in the same video stopping by the TikToker’s lorry to see if he needed help.

In a light-hearted conversation that ensued, the bomba personnel is heard asking him in surprise, “Are you eating Maggi now?” We presume that the bomba‘s comment was referring to the precarious situation the man was in, stuck in flood waters that have reached well up to the bomba‘s shoulders. To this, the TikToker cheekily responded by asking if they were hungry and if they wanted to join him instead.

TikToker cooks Maggi mee in his lorry during flood
Video adapted from: @iskandar6400

While the bomba tried to get the TikToker to follow them to safety, he insisted that he wanted to finish cooking his Maggi mee and eat it first.

Another video that was posted after that showed him alone, staring out his lorry’s window at flood waters. He captioned the TikTok video in Malay, which can be translated into, “The bomba abang came and asked me to come with him, but I didn’t take his offer. Now, the water has risen again. Aiya.”

But of course, our responsible bomba didn’t just leave him stranded there. He was eventually picked up by 2 bomba personnel who returned on a rowboat, as documented in another video. There was even a dramatic scene of him riding away in the rowboat from his lorry that was left stuck in the middle of flood waters while a sentimental Malay ballad played over the video.

TikToker cooks Maggi mee in his lorry during flood
Video adapted from: @iskandar6400

Because his TikTok followers wanted updates on the saga, he shared another TikTok video on 4th January, showing that he had reunited with his lorry after the flood waters subsided.

Netizens crack up but applaud TikToker’s positivity

The dark humour and virality of the video thread caused it to be shared on other social media platforms, including on Twitter user @hvziqyusoff‘s page. His Twitter post has garnered almost 560,000 views and 21,500 retweets at the time of writing.

In response to the video on Twitter, netizen @hairinazwan tweeted that it reminded him of a viral video of several men eating nonchalantly while a storm blazed on in the background. He also added, “Eat first, stomach is important” in response to both videos.

TikToker cooks Maggi mee in his lorry during flood
Image credit: @hairinazwan

Others also replied to the reshared Twitter post praising the TikToker’s positivity in tough times. Twitter user @Nadia_Nazir commented, “Possibly the best TikTok ever made [laughing emoji]. Somebody give him an award for [being] the most positive person stuck in a bad situation!”

TikToker cooks Maggi mee in his lorry during flood
Image credit: @Nadia_Nazir

TikToker insists on finishing Maggi mee before getting rescued from flood

The recent floods that have swept across states in Malaysia is not a great start to new year. So this TikToker’s light-hearted video is spreading some much-needed laughter at this time. But still, we wouldn’t recommend rejecting our heroic bomba’s rescue efforts to finish up your meal, because as the TikToker’s videos show, the flood waters can rise and put you in a more precarious situation instead.