Malaysian actress Noralbaniah opens up about her daughter getting jailed for drug-related offences

Local actress Noralbaniah says her daughter's jail stint was the most challenging test she had to go through. Photo: Noralbaniah/Instagram

Local actress Noralbaniah recently spoke about the hardship she went through mentally after her only daughter, Syarra Sudarman, was jailed last October for drug possession.

In a recent interview, Noralbaniah admitted that the dark episode involving her daughter was the biggest test she had to go through as a mother.

"Which parent would want this to happen to their child? I had never expected this to happen," the 53-year-old told Harian Metro.

According to the actress, it was very difficult to face the public at first. However, she had learned to accept it as a test from God.

"Maybe what happened (to my daughter) then will shape her into a better person in the future," she said.

Addressing the criticisms she received for failing to guide her daughter, Noralbaniah said: "My daughter isn't 18 anymore. She is 28. So stop threatening me and saying that I have failed to raise her properly."

During the interview, the Main-Main Hantu star also revealed that she learned of her daughter's arrest not through authorities, but from a reporter who contacted her asking for comments.

"I would like to apologise to the reporter who contacted me back then, but I couldn't answer that call. I only found out about Syarra's arrest through them.

"You couldn't imagine the shock I felt when I first heard the news," she added.

According to reports, Syarra was first charged after police caught her with two packets of syabu weighing up to 1.72g at a hotel in Kuala Pilah at 11.45am on Oct 12, 2022.

On the same day, police charged her a second time for taking amphetamine and methamphetamine at the Narcotics Investigation Unit in the Kuala Pilah Police Station at 3pm.

Of the first offence, Syarra was sentenced to eight months in jail. The court later added another five months to her sentence on Jan 17 for the second offence, bringing her jail time to 13 months.

Syarra was charged under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

Noralbaniah told the media on June 14 that her daughter was released from prison earlier in March due to good behaviour. She said that Syarra is doing well now.