RM250,000 for a dress, if you can afford it

Compiled by ARFA YUNUS, C.ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN

WITH news of her RM250,000 maroon velvet dress going viral, Bawal Exclusive founder Haliza Maysuri (pic) said she had placed the order with designer Rizalman Couture a year ago.

Haliza, who wore it during the 25th anniversary celebration of her hijab brand, said she was proud of the dress as it was inspired by her favourite character in Turkyish drama Magnificent Century.

She said the dress is studded with over 83,900 Swarovski crystals and the RM250,000 price includes the crown and shoes.

“The fabric was imported from the United Kingdom. The process takes a very long time since it is carefully sewn with handmade techniques,” she was quoted as saying by Gempak when attending her annual dinner with over 800 guests at Sunway Hotel Resort.

Initially, Haliza said she planned on getting the services of a fashion designer from Turkiye.

“Actually, before meeting Rizalman, I had already looked for several fashion designers in Turkiye, but it was quite difficult because I had to commute there. So, I thought the only fashion designer who could fulfil my wishes would be Rizalman.

At the event, Bawal Exclusive auctioned off its first Bawal Tabur with the starting price of RM25. At the end of the night, the headscarf had received a bid of RM78,000. Proceeds of the sale went to the Palestinian Humanitarian Fund (Malaysia Medical Relief Society), according to Haliza.

> Singer and composer Amir Jahari, 31, said that back in 2018 when he was suffering from severe depression, he had sought treatment from a psychiatrist who was also his friend, and took medication to treat his mental health problems, Harian Metro reported.

“I felt I needed help and immediately sought specialist treatment at that time. My condition improved and I stopped taking depression medication in 2021,” he told a press conference.

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.