PETALING JAYA, May 5 — Malaysian pop diva Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin has stoked further fury online by saying she's been blessed with “free pahala" (religious rewards) after her recent standard operating procedure (SOP) controversy.
In an Instagram Story yesterday, the Bukan Cinta Biasa singer wrote that there was a bright side to the challenges she's had to face, seemingly referring to the public anger over her son’s tahnik ceremony last Thursday.
“Alhamdulillah, I should be having fun.
"The ustaz told me (I can) collect a lot of pahala from the last 10 nights because of the challenges I've faced.
“The ustaz is right. I can get free pahala many times over from this,” said Siti.
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Many Malaysians expressed disappointment and anger on social media over Siti’s statement and took it as a sign that she had not learned any lessons from the incident.
i love siti nurhaliza but i'm so disappointed that she has become one of those celebs who guilt-trip their fans by using "dapat pahala berganda" bila dapat criticism 🥲 https://t.co/pyoEaJdVM7
— Naz 🦦 (@zihurr) May 4, 2021
Aduh, frust giler Siti Nurhaliza buat perangai gini. Takde maknanya kumpul pahala free kalau sendiri buat hal bagi orang mengata. Takyah konfiden sangat malaikat setuju ye.
— ✨ tae ✨ tae ✨ tae ✨ (@taeyong08_) May 4, 2021
Terus rasa nak unfollow je mak Afiyah ni. pic.twitter.com/Fk6IjA0Erg
Cara membalas kecaman terhadap kesilapan anda:
— dengki ke? (@azmirliberty) May 5, 2021
✅ mohon maaf dengan ikhlas
❌ “saya maafkan”
❌ “Alhamdulillah dapat pahala free”
Meanhile, a few fans praised Siti for taking the controversy into her stride and having an optimistic outlook.
Alhamdulillah kan........ Dia sibukkn diri kumpul pahala.. Allah dtgkn dugaan utk dia... Alhamdulillah dia melihat dari sudut yg positif... Siti Nurhaliza well said.... 10 mlm terakhir kot... Kot2 la ramadhan terakhir utk penghina pengutuk tegar... Semoga semua baik2 saja #aamiin pic.twitter.com/VsRHpl2Uu5
— 🧜♀️🧜♀️ Medusa (@Orchid8804) May 4, 2021
Siti came under scrutiny this week after she shared photos of her son’s tahnik ceremony on Instagram and tagged several of the guests in attendance.
Some of the guests were suspected of making cross-border trips to attend the event which was held at Siti and her husband Datuk Seri Khalid Mohamad Jiwa’s home in Ampang.
She later issued a media statement claiming that no interstate travel was conducted and that a guest who lives in Terengganu just happened to be in Kuala Lumpur on the day of the event.
Police then opened up an investigation into the tahnik ceremony on Monday after receiving reports that it had violated Covid-19 SOPs.
Following the backlash, Siti tweaked the settings on her Instagram profile so only her followers can leave comments while the comment sections on her more recent posts have been turned off completely.
