Diva AA’s dance routine shut down a carnival

Compiled by FAZLEENA AZIZ, JAROD LIM and R. ARAVINTHAN

THE organiser of a carnival in Alor Setar, Kedah, has publicly apologised over the recent controversy involving celebrity Azwan Ali, known as Diva AA, reported Harian Metro.

Maju Kedah Resources said the celebrity’s dangdut-style dance performance with several men on stage was unplanned and not part of the programme.

“On behalf of the organisers of Fiesta Raya Baling 2024, we extend our apology. The incident was beyond our control, and thought to be a joke,” it said in a statement, adding that the celebrity was not on the official invitation list.

The organiser said it had also accepted criticism by Bayu state assemblyman Mohd Taufik Yaacob and ordered the closure of the carnival.

“As the organiser, we accept our responsibility to immediately end the event,” it said.

Last Thursday, a video of the celebrity and several men dancing on stage at the Baling Raya Fiesta went viral.

The dancing drew criticism from netizens as it took place during the holy month of Ramadan.

> Berita Harian reported that pineapple crops nationwide had not been affected despite the hot and dry weather conditions over the past few weeks.

Pineapple Industry Board of Malaysia chairman Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali said so far, there were no complaints of crop damage due to hot weather from growers and operators.

However, he said should the drought persist, pineapple plants would need moderate watering.

“In general, hot weather is not a threat to pineapple plants because they don’t need a lot of water.

“We have also not received reports of fires involving pineapple plantations, especially those cultivated on peat land,” he told reporters after an iftar event on Sunday night.

Sheikh Umar Bagharib said exports of pineapple products, including fresh and canned fruit, totalled RM5.7bil last year.

The pineapples were exported to China, South Korea, West Asia, Japan and Germany.

“There is a lot of export demand but now, we are facing production problems to meet the market.

“The export demand is 4,000 containers but we are only able to supply 800 containers. We are targeting to add 200 containers this year,” he 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.