Compiled by BENJAMIN LEE and C. ARUNO
A FORMER convict in Pekan, Pahang, is now a successful ginger farm owner after turning over a new leaf upon his release from prison in January this year, reported Harian Metro.
After spending close to four years in prison, 34-year-old Mohd Fadzrul decided he would honour the wishes of his late sister, Fateen Afiqa, by taking over her Bentong ginger farm which she started two years ago.
“I no longer hold any lingering grudges or regrets and am only keen on pursuing my dream of becoming a successful farmer of not only ginger, but also other vegetables and chillies in the near future,” he said.
He was imprisoned in April 2019 for an assault case.
Fadzrul said the hard prison life had changed him for the better, with him being released earlier in January 2022 due to good behaviour.
He added that while his business was doing well, he was worried that competition from foreign ginger exporters might affect local ginger farms.
“I am worried that cheap mass-produced imported ginger, from Thailand and China particularly, will cause an oversupply in supermarkets.
“And with rising inflation, it would not be a surprise if many consumers end up switching to the cheaper and abundant imported ginger,” he said.
> Local veteran drama director Datuk Yusof Haslam has asked the government to review the licensing fees offered by local broadcasting stations to show creators, reported Utusan Malaysia.
Yusof, who is most known for his leading role in the critically acclaimed local crime fighting series Gerak Khas, said the licensing fees offered by most local broadcasting stations had not changed despite production cost increasing rapidly over the past few decades.
“In 1983, I was paid RM600 to play the lead role in a drama series on RTM. Now most actors expect to be paid RM3,000 at least.
“This poses a serious problem for modern show producers as they’ll have to spend more of their budget to hire actors while being paid the same amount as before by broadcasting stations,” Yusof said.
He added that the situation had become increasingly dire due to competition from over-the-top media services that were able to offer higher salaries to actors due to their lower production and broadcasting costs.
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.