Her baby is more popular than her online

She is just seven months old, but her popularity is already soaring to match that of her famous Malaysian parents.

With her big, bright eyes and cherubic face, Aaisyah Dhia Rana, the daughter of Rozita Che Wan and Zain Saidin, melts hearts and drives up the "likes" on their Instagram pages with little effort.

A photo of the adorable baby easily chalks up more than 16,000 "likes" on the social media platform.

But actress and host Rozita, who married her actor-husband in 2013, is hardly complaining and enjoys deflecting fan attention away from herself.

"If Zain and I upload a photo of us, maybe we'll have to wait three years to get tens of thousand of likes," the bubbly personality said jokingly in an interview with The New Paper.

Relief

She added: "It's a relief. People don't take photos with us now, only her. That's good for me because I don't like taking photos, I prefer talking to people instead."

Rozita, 42, was in town for a Singtel Hari Raya promotion event to drum up publicity for her shows Cahaya Primadona and Primadona Syawal on Astro Prima (Singtel TV Ch 602).

Cahaya Primadona airs every Sunday at 2pm and Primadona Syawal premieres on July 17 at 9am.

Rozita was with her younger sister, actress Ayu Raudhah, 30, to promote their hijab line Zeta en Rawdah that is on sale at a Geylang Serai booth, thanks to celebrity apparel retailer RoseValley.co.

Rozita has two sons from a previous marriage - Ammar Effendy, 19, and Aniq Ezzra, 17. She gave birth to Aaisyah, her first daughter, last November.

It did not take her long to shed 30kg of pregnancy weight in just three months.

The secret to that sweet success is one that, literally, leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.

As the ambassador for a weight-loss product, she consumed that to lose weight. "It's effective but it tastes horrible... like 'tepung basi' (expired flour)!

"I couldn't picture myself downing anything so disgusting, but within a week, I became immune to the taste.

"My motivation was shedding the kilograms. I was 80kg and now I'm back to my original weight," she said.

Lady Luck has been shining on Rozita even more since she married Zain, 31.

Her hijab and perfume businesses have been booming - 10,000 bottles of Precious By RCW perfume were snapped up within 10 days - and she has landed endorsement deals for many health and beauty products.

Rozita, who is believed to be among the top-earning TV actresses across the Causeway, has been enjoying rising fame in the last few years.

Her pregnancy last year, her first in nearly two decades, was a complication-free process and motherhood has been a joy, she said.

"When I was pregnant, all I wanted to do was eat, sleep and play Candy Crush.

"Labour was smooth and I gave birth to Aaisyah after four hours in the delivery suite... she is a really easy, happy baby who sleeps through the night," she said.

Initially, Rozita had reservations about having a baby when already in her 40s.

"I was so scared because even with my boys, I was not good at pushing. It's so tiring.

"When I push, it doesn't seem to work... you only see the results of my effort on my scrunched-up face," she said with a laugh.

But the road to her delivery was so smooth she even had time to preen.

"I felt no pain, so there was time to ask my make-up artist to doll me up and fix my hair. That took an hour... if not, I would look like a ghost," she said.

Hands-on Dad

Rozita said Zain is a hands-on father and a fast learner.

"He asked my mother to teach him how to bathe the baby.

"He is so helpful with changing her nappy and clothes so I feel confident leaving Aaisyah in his hands when I am at shoots," she said.

Zain is also overprotective of his beloved daughter.

"He is already considering home schooling for her and has stated this condition - that she can only date when she's 18," she said.

He is a loving husband and the pair are enjoying their blissful marriage.

Zain, she said, has plans to open a restaurant in London following their multiple holidays to Europe.

"He loves to eat and, sometimes, I will scold him because he eats too much. Now he wants to open a restaurant and for me to cook. How? Die! Ever since we got married, I have only cooked twice," she said candidly.

Although Hari Raya is approaching, the doll-faced entertainer has no plans to whip up anything in the kitchen for the festive season.

"The answer is catering. How to cook if you're wearing an outfit that's fit for an award ceremony?" she joked again, admitting that she already has 20 outfits, all matching ones with Aaisyah no less, ready for the occasion.

This article was first published on June 29, 2015.
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