A Malaysian actress/model/entrepreneur/influencer has has not paid what she owes, leading to a raid at her luxury home. It sure sounds familiar. Who is Che Ta?

She is a former beauty queen, who became an actress, who happens to be an influencer. Rozita Che Wan allegedly owes nearly RM1 million to the organisation Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA). Also known as the Council of Trust for the People, MARA was established in 1966 to support the economic empowerment of the bumiputra (Malaysians of indigenous Malay origin). Known to her followers as Che Ta, she reportedly took a loan of RM960,000 (or about S$288,384) in an indeterminate year and has not paid “since 1997”. The loan was made out to her company RCW Worldwide Sdn Bhd, the umbrella firm of her various beauty and fashion businesses and their attendant products. What the loan was for remains unknown. The specifics of how it was utilized have not been made public, but it was apparently intended to help with her entrepreneurial activities. Ms Wan and her eldest son Ammar Effendy served as guarantors. MARA has now initiated bankruptcy proceedings against both of them after mother and child allegedly avoided meeting the lender’s officials.

This came after Ms Wan’s RM10-million luxury house in Kota Damansara was raided six days ago by MARA officers, lawyers, and court representatives, and a mere RM100,000 worth of items seized then. The residential raid immediately brought to mind one that took place mere weeks ago, some 200km to the north of Kota Damasara, an affluent area in Petaling Jaya: That time, in the just-as-wealthy neighbourhood of Bukit Meru in Ipoh. In late last November, cosmetic queen Seri Vida’s palatial home was visited by a bailiff who apparently took away or marked some 700 items—including, as reported in the media, “dozens of flowerpots”—that were to be auctioned so that an unpaid bill of RM1 million for renovation work done could be recovered. Apart from the nearly similar amounts of money the two with their own beauty brands (Ms Wan has her ByRCW line) owed respectively, there is something else they have in common: the raids at their individual homes were conducted when both were not home.

Ms Wan and her son Ammar Effendy celebrating the former’s 51st birthday in March. Photo: ammaeffendy/Instagram

Ms Wan’s financial problems similarly recall the case of influencer/entrepreneur Vivy Yusof, in that the two women have a serious fondness for luxury bags and a staggering collection of them. Both required external help from public funds in improving their business liquidity, and despite their monetary woes, both women continued to flaunt their beg-beg mewah (luxury bags) through social media. Like Ms Yusof, the popular comedic actress has a discernible weakness for Lady Diors, Chanels, and Birkins (and in vivid colours, too). They have rather similar styles as well, and are especially enamoured with tudongs fancily worn, or secured to the chin, or with one end floating in machine-generated wind. Interestingly, Ms Wan also owns fashion labels. Just as it is with Ms Yusof and her Duck brand, she has a line of tudongs known as RCW Scarves and are dubbed “special edition for all”. In addition, she has a clothing line Padusi Couture, just as Ms Yusof has Lilit. But she may, ultimately, be one up on the latter: She has a perfume business, which includes the popular Precious by RCW.

Yesterday, on TikTok live, Che Ta—a patina of pink in what looked like a kitchen—addressed the unabated controversy. “There are false statements that make me angry,” she said in her rapid-fire market Malay. “If you want to spread embarrassing stories, go ahead, but don’t spread slander. Some reports are true, and some are not. I’m waiting for the right moment to speak out.” She did not say why, despite the case having gone to the courts, the moment was not yet right. Sinar Harian quoted chairman of MARA, Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki saying, “This is not the first court action that has been taken against her, but the second, and now this is the most important thing: Come to MARA to discuss.” Five days earlier, she staged a livestream to jual murah (sell cheaply) her used clothes that led some of her fans (she has more followers on Instagram than Vivy Yusof and Seri Vida combined!) to suspect that she was creating revenue streams to address the unpaid loans. When viewers asked her questions pertaining to her debt, she deftly ignored them as she hawked clothes no longer wanted by her and her family.

Che Ta fancies herself as a fashionista, seen here with her signature sunglasses

The MARA chairman also took to Facebook to comment in Malay about debt repayment, not mincing his words: “…deliberately refusing to pay (procrastination) despite being able to even display luxury on social media, MARA will not hesitate to take legislative action.” He did not mention names, but it is not hard to see who he might have referred to. Netizen were not hesitant to say that, despite the money owed over such a long period, Rozita Che Wan was able to hidup mewah (live luxuriously), and is not shy about her ostentatious displays. Even her only daughter—just ten years old—is allowed to doll up and have access to her store of bags, and seen carrying some of them. Like the other influencer types, Ms Wan has a weakness for the Lady Dior and the Birkin in assorted bright colours. And she showed no compunction in using the bags as part of her modest dressing, even if they are hardly not showy.

Born Rozita bin Abu Bakar in 1973 in Alor Setar (formerly known as Alor Star, the capital of the state of Kedah) to Abu Bakar and Zabedah Saad, Rozita Che Wan is the second child of seven siblings. Little is known about her childhood except that, after her father passed away when she was 15, her mother—a full-time housewife until then—had to find work to pay the bills. As she told Sinar Harian in March this year: “My mother had to do various jobs, including working in the school canteen. My late grandfather took care of us siblings.” According to some reports, she attended the local school before going to Kuala Lumpur to finish her secondary education. Fast track to 1992: Ms Wan joined the air-travel industry and became a flight attendant with Malaysian Airlines. She kept that job for three years. In the year she started flying, she won a beauty contest, the minor pageant Miss Intercontinental (Malaysia), and was from then labelled a “beauty queen”.

Rozita Che Wan, seen here with one of her many Birkins

In that TikTok live session from last night, she told her fans: “Before acting, I worked in offices, sold clothes, and even did beadwork (who knew she was a perleur?!). My career as an actress only began after those years of struggle.” She started acting in 2005, at age 35—not when she was a blossoming beauty—but how the opportunity presented itself to her at the time is not clear. It was not until 2010, when she was cast as the ebullient village ikan pekasam (fermented fish) seller, Cik Kiah, in the TV series Kiah Pekasam (Fermented Kiah), that renown came acalling, followed by rabid fandom. This was achieved two years after she divorced her first husband Azuar Effendy Zulkaply, with whom she had two boys, after eight years of marriage. In 2011, buoyed by her new-found fame and a captive audience, she started her fashion business, and four years later, began her tudung line.

Conjugal happiness enticed a second time, and in 2013, she married fellow comedic actor Zain Saidin, who is 12 years her junior. She proudly declared to the media in 2018 that when she won Miss Intercontinental, Mr Zain “masa itu baru darjah dua (was, at the time, only in standard 2 [or the equivalent of our primary 2]). Like Vivy Yusof, she lives her married life rather publicly, sharing considerably on social media, including her pre-pubescent daughter’s love of make-up and dressing up, much to the disapproval, even derision, of her followers. Refusing to accept criticism of her parenting skill, she hit back: “Our daughter loves makeup! Why would we restrict her from doing something she enjoys?” She didn’t explain how the little one came to adore cosmetics if she did not expose her to them. In one interview, Rozita Che Wan spoke to Sinar Harian about women’s roles today, saying: “Most importantly, she must be smart at making money. Don’t just focus on looking good”. What indeed did she focus her daughter on? And by smart, did she mean not settling one’s loans on time, as business conventions dictate?

Update (23 December 2024, 18.00): According to the New Straits Times, Rozita Che Wan’s possessions, some 34 items, including a car, will be auctioned off tomorrow so that the unpaid loan of RM960,000 could be recovered

Update (24 December 2024, 12:30): Anti-climactic! The public auction scheduled for today is now postponed, according to the New Straits Times. Another date will be set although when that will be is not known. Apparently Rozita Che Wan had applied to the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court for the postponement. There is the possibility that she will settle her debt with MARA privately

Photos (except indicated): rozitachewan1/Instagram. Illustration (top): Just So