Amber Chia: Rajinikanth didn't hijack my limo

PETALING JAYA: When model Amber Chia heard the news that Tamil superstar Rajinikanth was spotted in a Hello Kitty limo, she was “not angry at all”.

“When I saw that the Kollywood superstar had taken my limo, it’s okay. It’s just that the travel agency should have informed me earlier,” she told The Star Online.

Chia had waited at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for nearly three hours, having expected the same limo to pick her up for the opening of the Hello Kitty Gourmet Cafe at Sunway Pyramid.

“When I heard about the hijacking, I don’t think a celebrity would do that. I trust Rajinikanth and fully respect him. He won’t do that to another person,” she said. 

Chia had arrived at the airport around 6.15pm on Monday after a trip to Da Nang, Vietnam to judge for the Face of Vietnam model search.

To be on time for the Hello Kitty event, Chia did her hair and makeup during her transit time in Ho Chi Minh and chose not to check in her luggage.

On arrival in KLIA, the model was ready to leave for her next engagement at 6.20pm. 

“But when I called the driver, he said he thought my arrival time was 7.30pm. I asked him how long I had to wait, and he told me he needed 45 minutes to reach KLIA,” she said. 

An hour later, Chia called to check on the driver's whereabouts. 

“He said he had an emergency in Malacca, and needed another 45 minutes,” Chia recounted.

Her third call to him at 8.20pm went unanswered.

With her client pushing the cafe’s opening to 9pm, Chia finally took a taxi to Sunway Pyramid and arrived 20 minutes before the mall’s closing time of 10pm.

Chia clarified that she only waited around that long as the client had invested into beautifying the limo, and her paid appearance included arriving at the cafe’s opening in the vehicle. 

“I had to deliver my responsibility. I just feel bad for my client, and they apologised to me. They kept asking me to wait for the limo, and I thought that was because they spent a lot on the sticker,” she said.

She clarified that her client said the limousine was booked for the whole day.

According to Chia, other bloggers were also left in the lurch as the vehicle was supposed to pick them up for a limo tour with the media before a photo opportunity in front of the cafe. 

However,  the events of that night are still something of a mystery, and she looks forward to her client providing a full account of the incident.

“I hope I’m right, because to take away someone’s phone is illegal,” she said of reports that the star’s representatives had confiscated the driver’s mobile device.

“I fully respect Rajinikanth and I don’t think he would do this to another person. He is mature,” Chia added.