Move over, Anwar Hadid. Malaysia’s got our own collection of vaccine trash talkers in the entertainment world, even with the country descending into COVID-19 chaos.
The COVID-19 vaccine has been proven to be effective against the coronavirus, but we’re confident that at least six Malaysian celebrities will not get their jabs when the vaccine is available to them.
That’s because some would rather wait it out until the pandemic is over, or turn to home remedies. Then there are those who resort to bizarre behavior like calling vaccinated people “cattle.”
For the record, Malaysia’s new daily COVID-19 cases are in the five digits, with someone dying from it every day. Since the pandemic began, 1.7 million people have been infected and nearly 17,000 died.
Scroll down for more celebrity-vaccine shenanigans.
Ex-beauty queen Samantha Katie James
Besides refusing to wear a “fuckin face diaper” in the middle of the pandemic, former Miss Universe Malaysia titleholder Samantha Katie James, 26, told her Instagram followers in April that she would rather “alkalize” and let her body heal itself through fasting instead of getting vaccinated with “GMO” owned by Big Pharma.
“Alkalize, let the body heal itself through fasting or vaXXXsinAte with GMO brought to you by big pHARma?” she wrote on social media. “It’s fasting for me, u?”
Comedian-actor Zul Yahya
Comedian-actor Zulkifli Yahya, or Zul Yahya, wasn’t joking when he questioned Malaysian Muslims on why they would believe in unproven forms of medication.
The 48-year-old actor famous for starring in the Gerak Khas (Special Forces) action film never explicitly confessed to being an anti-vaxxer although he has been insinuating that sentiment through multiple online posts. He once recommended “fennel flower and honey” as natural remedies during the pandemic and frequently recirculated anti-vaccine statements to his 237,000 online followers, including one blaming the COVID-19 vaccine as being “deadlier” than the disease as it was drawing long queues outside vaccination centers.
Singer Suhaimi Saad
Religious musician Suhaimi Saad is no stranger to antivax sentiments, even before COVID-19 happened. So it’s no surprise that the 40-year-old Impian Kasih (Dream of Love) singer from Pahang last month referred to people who were receiving the COVID-19 vaccine as “cattle.”
“I respect the 779 teachers who refuse to be vaccinated… Teachers are not stupid, unlike cattle,” he wrote on his now-deleted Instagram account, praising the nearly 800 schoolteachers in Johor for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Actress-director Ellie Suriaty Omar
Malaysian actress Ellie Suriaty Omar, 51, came out yesterday to say that she respects her children’s decision not to get vaccinated.
This comes after her two children, aged 17 and 12, and a friend, aged 17, lodged a complaint at the Taman Melawati police station on Monday because they did not want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as they were worried about the side effects. Malaysia will begin vaccinating those aged 12 to 17 starting next week.
“I respect my children’s rights to not receive the vaccine,” the My Coffee Prince actress told mStar.
“We use homeopathy, fennel flower, and natural remedies to stay healthy,” she added. “I hope my children’s decision to not get vaccinated will not affect them in the future.”
Ellie also lamented that people who receive the vaccine would still get infected anyway.
“If the vaccine is so good, why do people who get it still get sick? The fact is, there is no difference between the amount of COVID-19 infections in vaccinated versus unvaccinated people.”
Model-actress Lana Nodin
Model-actress Mazlina Hasan Nodin is hesitant about getting the COVID-19 vaccine but declines being labeled as an anti-vaxxer.
The 41-year-old, better known as Lana Nodin, revealed in an August interview that she was not confident in the safety of existing COVID-19 vaccines, despite several of them already being approved by the World Health Organization. She thinks that it could take up to 10 years for the vaccines to be safe and seems willing to wait.
“I am not an anti-vaxxer,” she was quoted as saying by Kosmo. “I am pro-safe and more careful about my choices. I am waiting for the vaccine to be safe for all to use.”
Deaths directly caused by the COVID-19 vaccine are rare.
Actress Rita Rudaini
Actress Rita Rudaini, 45, drew ire in July after she uploaded a series of Instagram stories defending people who refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Unusually, she doesn’t understand why people who were against the vaccine were called anti-vaxxers and seems to think that the elderly should not get the injection unless they wanted to travel.
“Why are those who refuse the vaccine labelled as ‘antivaxxers?’” the Cinta Gila (Crazy Love) film actress asked online. “Everyone has their own rights.”
She later said: “Kids are forcing their poor elderly parents to get the vaccine… they can’t even walk … What are the parents going to do after their jabs? Go to Paris or Milan?”
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