KUALA LUMPUR: Despite her sincerity in organising a charity programme called Dari Poket Artis Ke Poket Artis recently, actress Diana Rafar says she had been taken aback when there were some who questioned her motive.
In a Harian Metro report yesterday, when confronted as such, the 41-year-old artiste kept reminding herself to remain calm as what was more important was for her to keep move forward in making the programme a success.
"Some of the well-to-do celebrities whom I approached, questioned me back if I was really doing it for the less fortunate.
"Some told me blankly that if they wanted to help, they'd rather make the donation directly to the recipients or some even asked me if they could donate their products instead," she said in the report.
"I'm not begging for charity, but what I'm trying to do is to reach out to fellow artistes for them be a little more compassionate towards our less fortunate industry players, especially veteran artistes who no longer have steady income.
"At times like now, what they really need is monetary assistance, not for some free products, which might not be a necessity," she explained.
Diana however, was grateful that there are still some who were generous and had pledged to make more contributions when she launched more rounds of such charity drives in the future.
Among those who joined in the programme she organised recently included Mila Jirin, Zizan Razak and Syatilla Melvin.
Among the veteran celebrities who were the beneficiaries of the Dari Poket Artis Ke Poket Artis programme were Jalil Hamid, Wan Maimunah, Mak Jah and Zaiton Sameon.