KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 — Local beverage company Chatime Malaysia has confirmed that entrepreneur Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor and husband Muhammad Haris Ismail were given clearance to travel interstate for business purposes involving their company. 

A statement by Chatime Malaysia’s Group Managing Director Aliza Ali said that the couple’s visit to three locations in the Northern Zone, namely Sungai Petani and Langkawi in Kedah, and Kangar in Perlis was intended to view sites of upcoming Chatime outlets in the northern states. 

"The visit also involved staff from the Operations and Management department of Chatime Malaysia,” read the statement posted on the company’s Facebook page this evening. 

"Permission to cross state lines to travel to Langkawi was obtained from a nearby police station in compliance with the existing SOPs. 

"We hope this statement will clear the air over any confusion,” said Chatime. 

Earlier, Brickfields deputy police chief Supt Basri Sagoni said that Neelofa and three others had obtained permission to travel to the northern states after submitting a permit application to the Sri Hartamas police. 

Basri had said the permit applied by Neelofa’s group had stated business reasons related to Chatime for wanting to cross state lines, which he said was supported by a letter from the beverage company themselves.

This comes following rumours that Neelofa and her husband were on honeymoon in Langkawi after pictures supposedly showing them arriving at an airport there circulated online, just days after their equally controversial wedding ceremony held on Saturday. 

Neelofa and Haris, also known as PU Riz, tied the knot in an extravagant ceremony last weekend that has since become the subject of police investigations after pictures of guests sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and posing for photos without face masks in violation of Covid-19 SOPs went viral online.

Religious affairs minister Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad, who was also present at the ceremony to solemnise the marriage and was seen violating the SOPs, had earlier today refused to comment on the matter.