MALAYSIAN celebrities getting into trouble for flouting the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of the movement control order are nothing new in the country.
The latest in line is Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor and her religious preacher husband Muhammad Haris Muhammad Ismail, who have caused quite a stir in the past few months for repeatedly violating SOPs.
From their wedding ceremony and honeymoon in Langkawi to their recent carpet shopping trip in Nilai during a period of time when Malaysians are not allowed to cross state borders without permission from the police, they seem to have courted controversy at every turn.
The celebrity – along with her husband and relatives – were fined a whopping RM60,000 for the COVID-19 SOP breaches at her wedding and honeymoon. More recently, the couple had pleaded not guilty for violating SOPs during her interstate shopping trip.
But what was it that led to their downfall?
Well, it was social media, of course. More accurately, it was people’s tendency to snap photos and post them on social media for all the world to see that had gotten the celebrity couple in trouble in the first place.
Hadn’t it been for the photos of them allegedly at the Langkawi International Airport, nobody would’ve known that they had gone all the way there for their honeymoon.
Similarly, hadn’t it been for the photos she and the carpet store employee had put up on social media, nobody would have known that she had gone all the way to Nilai for her high-quality Persian rugs. While the photos were taken own shortly afterwards, the damage was already done.
But Neelofa isn’t alone here. Countless VIPs – businessmen and politicians, among others – had, in the past, found themselves in trouble with the law for similar reasons, COVID-19-related or otherwise.
With the country grappling with a pandemic crisis, it is not at all surprising that social media users are paying extra attention to celebrities and VIPs to make sure that they do not violate SOPs because let’s face it, everybody has had enough of the pandemic and not to mention, the accusations of double standards that had dogged the current administration.
Social media has gifted us with the opportunity to take a peek into some of people’s most private and unguarded moments. Unfortunately, this opportunity comes with a price, as the aforementioned incidents would tell you.
As the saying goes, the camera doesn’t lie; it tells a story. And these stories can sometimes be ugly, illegal and uncalled for. Don’t say you haven’t been warned. – May 22, 2021
