Compiled by C. ARUNO, ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN and R. ARAVINTHAN

       ACTRESS Susan Lankester once tried her hand at singing with an album entitled Takdir in 1993. But it was her first and last.

       She conceded she was not a good singer.

       “A singer must possess good vocals and ability. But I don’t have this. Maybe I can sing, but I’m not a good singer,” she told Berita Harian Ahad.However, the Kedah native had good memories of singing a duet with the late Tan Sri SM Salim, who was famous for his Apa Dah Jadi hit.

       “He and I needed to dance as well when we performed the song during the Anugerah Industri Muzik show three decades ago. He was very sporting,” she added.

       The 62-year-old actress of Chinese-English parentage shot to fame when she acted in the comedy film Mekanik.

       She also acted in the TV sitcom 2+1 with Imuda, Datuk Ziela Jalil and Louise Chong in 1989.

       Susan said she would not mind acting in a remake of the popular sitcom.

       She also harbours dreams of becoming a director like Mekanik’s Othman Hafsham, who guided and shared his knowledge with her and the other actors.

       > Mingguan Malaysia reported on the difficulty faced by construction contractors who have to pay high prices for raw materials.

       According to the Malaysian Bumiputra F Class Contractors Association president Tukiman Radion about 10,000 contractors awarded various projects, last year, had to withdraw due to expensive raw materials, as well as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

       The daily reported that prior to the movement control order, the price of one metric tonne of iron was RM2,800, but has risen to RM3,500, while the price of cement has increased to RM21 from RM14 earlier.

       The price increase is due to low supply brought about by suppliers not being able to operate during the movement restrictions.

       Contractor Hazrol Hafiz Hashim, 35, claimed that some shops were selling iron and cement at higher prices than normal, and this had affected construction projects.

       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.