KUCHING: Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has aired his dissatisfaction with the way Malaysian singer Dayang Nurfaizah was treated before she was allowed to enter Sarawak.
The Sarawak-born artiste was invited to perform at the state level 2021 New Year’s Eve Countdown celebration which was scheduled on Dec 31.
Abdul Karim said he had obtained clearance from Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, for Dayang to enter the state.
“The procedure for special cases is that they can be here (Sarawak) for a period of 72 hours without quarantine but must undergo the swab test before coming in.
“Dayang did just that. She had her swab test on Dec 25, but when she arrived here on Monday (Dec 28), she had to be swabbed and quarantined upon arriving Sarawak. How can you be swabbed two times in three days?
“Therefore, I have to make this personal apology to Dayang. Personally, I feel very sorry for the inconvenience that she had to go through,” he told a press conference on the New Year’s Eve countdown at the Indoor Stadium, Petra Jaya today.
Abdul Karim appealed to SDMC staff to be mindful and kinder to the public in special cases.
“I know some people might not be happy with this kind of comment from me. I have to do it so that they know,” he said.
