Singer Siti Nurhaliza joins religious minister, scholars in being fined over SOP breach

Pop singer Siti Nurhaliza and her husband Khalid Mohamad Jiwa have been fined RM10,000 each for breaching Covid-19 SOPs at a traditional Muslim ceremony for their newborn son late last month.

In a report by Malay daily Berita Harian, Selangor police chief Arjunaidi Mohamed said religious affairs minister Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri and three preachers – Azhar Idrus, Don Daniyal and Iqbal – were also slapped with compounds of RM2,000 each.

Celebrity couple Norman Hakim and Abby Abadi who were also present at the ceremony were fined as well.

Siti is the latest in a string of high-profile individuals who have been fined for violating health SOPs.

On April 27, celebrity businesswoman Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor and 20 of her family members were issued compounds totalling RM60,000 for breaching SOPs at her wedding.

Neelofa herself was fined RM20,000 while her husband, Muhammad Haris Ismail, was fined RM10,000.

On May 20, they claimed trial at the Seremban Magistrate’s Court to violating the SOPs. The court trip also landed Neelofa in more hot water after a police report was lodged, claiming that she had not worn the mandatory face mask beneath her niqab.

Former prime minister Najib Razak was also fined for failing to check in with the MySejahtera app when visiting a chicken rice outlet in Kuala Lumpur in March.

The ceremony for Siti and Khalid’s son was held on April 26.

In a statement on May 3, they maintained that they had complied with the requirements under the conditional movement control order at the time.

They said claims that travel restrictions had been breached were due to the presence of a preacher from another state who only agreed to attend as he happened to be in Kuala Lumpur.

They also said the ceremony was divided into three sections to allow for physical distancing, with a limit on the number of people in attendance.

“As law-abiding Malaysians who are sensitive to the current situation, we have never taken this lightly and as long as it is within our control, we try to comply as much as possible,” they said.