Some rent luxury cars for balik kampung

Compiled by TAN SIN CHOW, LOSHANA K SHAGAR and R.ARAVINTHAN 

AN increasing number of Malay­sians are spending thousands of ringgit to rent cars for balik kampung just to impress relatives.

Kosmo! reported that the trend was so widespread that many car rental firms were offering more models.

Malaysian Car Rental Business Cooperative president Mohd Afendi Aman said for this Hari Raya, 137 member companies are expected to earn RM5mil through car rentals.

He said 3,200 cars out of a fleet of 4,000 owned by Kopkes members nationwide had been booked for the first week of Hari Raya.

“Not all our customers are car-less. Sometimes they simply want a more luxurious car to take home for the holidays. Cars in high demand this festive season are Vellfire, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and other models classified as ‘super cars’,” he said.

For a Vellfire, the rate is RM14,000 for a week, while a BMW will cost RM19,600 and a Mercedes-Benz is RM10,000.

Those wanting something ­cheaper can opt for a Perodua Myvi, Toyota Vios or Honda City which goes from RM1,000 to RM2,000 for a week’s rental.

Car rental owner Mohd Syazirul Mat Sali said some customers did not deny that they were renting cars to give a better impression of their lifestyle to their relatives.

A civil servant renting a car for his trip, who only wanted to be known as Safuan, justified the extra cost as something he did only once a year.

“In the city, I do not own a car as I am single and a motorcycle is enough for me to get around.

“This is only once a year, there is no harm in spending a little extra to rent a car to return for the Hari Raya holidays,” he said, adding that he was renting a Honda Civic for the second consecutive Hari Raya.

> Kosmo! also reported that popular actress Nabila Huda claimed her stepmother was stopping her from celebrating Hari Raya with her father, rockstar Amy Search.

Nabila, 33, penned a series of Instagram stories against her stepmother Norish Hassan recently, in which she said she had been ill-treated “from the very first day”.

“You have always been jealous of me and you always try to create some drama so that I look bad in front of everyone.

“I have never troubled you, and I have never taken a single sen from you,” she said in her postings.

Nabila’s father Amy Search (Suhaimi Abdul Rahman) married Norish in 2003. Nabila is Amy Search’s daughter from his first marriage to Faridah Fadzil.

The actress noted that although her relationship with Norish was fraught with problems, she remained patient because of her father.

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.