10 Sep 2006
By M. Hamzah Jamaludin and Tan Choe Choe

KUANTAN: Presenting his 24-year-old wife with the most expensive hantaran (wedding gifts) has exposed Datuk Roslan Hashim to scathing attacks on his personality and his businesses.

However, Roslan, popularly known as “Datuk R”, is not amused and has asked his lawyer to study the possibility of taking legal action against those smearing his name.

“I expected that some people would not be happy but I never thought that they would dig into my past and create lies about me,” he said at his in-laws’ home in Medan Tok Sira here yesterday.

Roslan made the headlines when he spent RM3.5 million for his wedding, including presenting his wife with a hantaran worth RM444,444.44 and a BMW car worth RM250,000.

The gifts have dwarfed Datuk Khalid Muhammad Jiwa or Datuk K’s hantaran to Datin Siti Nurhaliza which stood at RM30,000.

In an exclusive interview with the New Sunday Times, Roslan and wife Datin Puteri Shahanaz Hazlin Hamdan were calm when told that several people had supplied the media with “secrets” about his business and previous marriage.

“I’ve been a businessman for more than 20 years and have 17 companies. I would be lying if I claimed that all of my companies are free from problems.

“My lawyer is handling the court case involving one of my companies and I can’t make any comments as the case is still pending,” he said.

On July 26, Roslan, who is the chief executive of Borneo Perkasa Sdn Bhd, was charged in the Sessions Court in Malacca for allegedly cheating a contractor and making false declarations of his financial status before two Commissioners of Oaths.

He was granted bail of RM100,000 in one surety and the case is still pending.

On his previous marriage, Roslan said he was only married once before, to Ruslany Kassim.

They were divorced in 1997 and have five children, aged from 13 to 24.

Shahanaz said she was not affected by any of the accusations as Roslan had told her about his background, and promised to stay true to Roslan.

Roslan’s eldest daughter, Farah Farani, when contacted, said that she was shocked to hear that some people wanted to create problems for the family.

“Please leave us alone. It’s my father’s right to remarry,” she said.

Despite the allegations, Roslan and Shahanaz proceeded with their lavish wedding dinner here last night and will hold another reception in Pekan today.

In Malacca, the State Islamic Religious Council (Maim) has confirmed that it issued a letter last week to confirm that Roslan was “a divorcee with no other wives”.

The letter was based on a declaration of his divorce from his first wife in 1997, issued by Penang’s Department of Islamic Affairs.

Maim’s acting director Abdul Halim Tawil said the letter was issued through the Melaka Tengah Department of Islamic Affairs but it did not constitute an approval for him to marry others.

“The letter we issued was based on his testimony that he has no other wives and the letter from Penang was issued nine years ago.

“He also has a sworn testimony from the court registrar’s office in Penang to attest to his divorcee status,” he added.

After his divorce, Abdul Halim said there was no record of Roslan ever remarrying.