Compiled by ALLISON LAI and R. ARAVINTHAN
A HOUSEWIFE in Pontian, Johor, asked to be removed from the M40 tier and be placed under the B40 tier after she was required to pay RM23,500 to perform her haj, Kosmo! reported.
Nur Shahirah Sulaiman, 24, said she received the offer from Tabung Haji via WhatsApp on Dec 16.“In the offer, I was categorised as M40 and needed to pay RM23,500.
“I will take up the offer but hope Tabung Haji will change my status to B40 as I am a housewife and have no fixed income,” she said when met at her home in Kampung Puteri Menangis.
Tabung Haji recently announced new fees for the 2025 haj season, beginning from RM15,000 per person for B40 Muassasah pilgrims and RM23,500 per person for M40 Muassasah pilgrims. T20 pilgrims bear the full RM33,300 cost.> Pop queen Noraniza Idris has vowed to never become a jury member on any singing contest.
Noraniza, 56, said she “does not want to hurt anyone’s feelings”, Harian Metro reported.
“I know how hard it is for those who sing because I have experienced it, what more to become a jury among my artiste friends.
“I have received offers (to be a jury member) but I don’t want it. I’m afraid that there are people who won’t like it,” she said.
Known fondly as Kak Ani, the singer is known for her songs that fuse local traditional genres with Western pop beats.
> The daily also reported that actor Datuk Adi Putra, who was admitted into a medical centre for lung infection and gallstones last Friday, was finally allowed to return home.
His wife Datin Aida Yusof said although her husband was still feeling unwell, he had asked the doctor’s permission to leave early so that he could continue filming the drama series Sekam Di Dada.
“The doctor gave him a medical certificate to rest for two days but he has gone back to the filming location as he did not want to inconvenience anyone,” she said.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a, it denotes a separate news item.