Compiled by JUNAID IBRAHIM and C. ARUNO

       ACTRESS Raja Ilya stunned her social media followers when she gave a speech in Tamil in conjunction with Deepavali.

       After viewing the video which she had uploaded on Instagram, her followers said that they were amazed by her ability to speak the language, Harian Metro reported.

       Raja Ilya, whose full name is Raja Ramilah Begum Raja Mohammad and who is partly Indian, said that her Tamil had been getting “rusty” as she has not been practising it.

       “How are you all? Have you eaten yet? For this year’s Deepavali festival, I am sure that you have the opportunity to return to your hometown, right?

       “So, I hope you will take care of yourself because we need to always stay safe against Covid-19.

       “I hope that you can keep some of the food for me like murukku, vadai and kuih when I return to Malaysia,” said the saree-clad actress, who is currently living in Perth, Australia.

       “I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Deepavali. Have fun with your families,” she said in the video.

       > The owner of a floating restaurant who was slammed by social media users for allegedly overcharging a customer has come forward to explain the fiasco.

       On Thursday, a receipt showing a man having paid nearly RM1,200 for the sea bass in the restaurant in Langkawi went viral and prompted debates online.

       Norasyikin Musa said she was the one who took the order from the customer and despite having explained the size of the fish and the price, the customer proceeded with the order, Utusan Malaysia reported.

       “I explained to the customer that the fish is not usually for sale, only for display at the restaurant. I suggested the customer take other fish such as red sea bass and grouper with a size of around 1kg to 1.5kg, which was more suitable,” she said.

       Norasyikin added that the customer, who ordered the meal for seven people, refused to have a look at the fish before the restaurant proceeded to cook it.

       She also denied that she had charged additional fees for credit card payment as alleged by the customer. In total the customer spent RM1,852.50 for the meal.

       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.