She hasn’t been in the public eye since 2011, but pop diva Anita Sarawak is very much alive and kicking, in fact.
The singer also wanted to dispel rumours that she’s sick and that she’s got divorced from her husband, Mahathir Abdullah, who is also her manager.
Anita Sarawak, who was born Ithnaini binti Mohamed Taib on March 23, 1952, and her husband have been living in the United States since 2011 and are based in Las Vegas.
The diva became famous at the age of 17 and has performed all over the world—including a three-month US tour in 1979 and an 18-year stint at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
Anita Sarawak met her husband, Briton Mohamad Mahathir Abdullah, who was born Martin Cox, in Las Vegas. In 2001, they got married.
But she has stayed quiet for the past 11 years.
However, she recently reached out to Roslen Fadzil, a former entertainment journalist, to dispel rumours about her “disappearance.”
“Our conversation was short, and I also didn’t ask too many questions because I wanted to respect Anita’s privacy. What I can tell you is that the story that people say about Anita like she’s sick, dead and divorced is not true,” Roslen told Malay Mail.
In an Instagram post on May 29, he shared that the singer and her husband had called to wish him a happy Hari Raya, adding that rumours surrounding the singer’s illness and divorce are not true at all. He also made an appeal for the couple’s privacy. “We let them both live quietly abroad, respect their privacy, and all move on cheerfully!”
Roslen told Malay Mail that the singer, actress and talk show host, now 70, still sounds as she did in days past, as cheerful as ever.
Alas, she no longer sings, which is something that her fans are likely to be very disappointed to hear.
Instead, she is now a full-time housewife who spends her days doing the things she loves, such as gardening.
Anita Sarawak was born to parents who were both in the entertainment industry. She is the only child of director S. Roomai Noor and actress Siput Sarawak. Her stepmother, Datin Umi Kalthum, was a veteran Malaysian actress. /TISG