“I’M saddened by this. As a father, I will never say anything bad about her.
“I feel that there may be some provocation somewhere that influenced what she said in her Instagram post, but I don’t want to blame anyone,” said well-known singer Datuk Zainal Abidin.
His statement, when contacted by the New Straits Time, refers to his daughter’s prompt response to an article published by an online portal recently, which wrote about Zainal not blaming his daughter, Timur Gabriel, for leading a westernised lifestyle. Timur, 22, gave her two cents on her father’s comments by uploading a picture on Instagram with a long caption.
Part of it read: “I feel that my father did this interview so he can use my social status to attack my mother.”
“Somewhere in this article, Papa says that he has never blamed me — ‘dia tak pernah salahkan saya’. That is incorrect. Dia salahkan saya every single time he says a single bad word about my mother to me or to anyone else. Dia salahkan saya when despite all the money he has, he only pays RM200 for nafkah (child support) every month.”
“Dia salahkan saya when he told me ‘I will drag your mum to court until she has no money left — I will not give her anything for as long as I can control it’ . Dia salahkan saya when he goes to the media and uses me to gain attention.”
Another portion of it read: “When I look at my father, I see a man who has admitted to me that he wants to see my mother, the only person who could have raised me and my mildly autistic brother, suffer for as long as he lives. Would I really want to be this version of a ‘good Muslim’? Are these values I want to share? No. I don't think so.”
Zainal seemed unperturbed. “Frankly, I expected this to happen. But the things that she said about me are not true. I think it’s an exaggeration of the news (referring to the online portal), which made her angry. If she prays five times a day, she wouldn’t be talking bad about her father. You have never seen or read about me getting involved with alcohol or drugs, I’m not that kind of artiste. I think people know me better than that.”
“I am close to my children. It’s just that I don’t get to see them often due to the nature of my work. I’ve come to accept this situation as it is. I always pray for the best for my children,” said the 57-year-old Hijau hit-maker, who is set to perform at his 35th anniversary concert at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Feb 25.
Timur is Zainal’s child with his ex-wife, Natasya Gabriel Abdullah. The couple, who tied the knot in 1987 and divorced in 2000, also have a son together, Mikhail, 24.