Theatre actress Siti K to join The Noose

SINGAPORE - Theatre actress Siti Khalijah Zainal hopes to bring makciks and minahs to life on Channel 5, when she joins popular comedy sketch show The Noose as its first female Malay cast member.

The bubbly actress, who is better known simply as Siti K, sounded excited when speaking to Life! about her upcoming new role, which will be seen in Season 7 of the news parody show that will premiere on March 25.

Says the 28-year-old: "I'm really looking forward to joining The Noose because I can represent my people and do funny sketches for female Malay characters, which the show didn't have before."

She says she will "very likely" be playing at least two new characters: One of a "Malay makcik (aunty)", and then a young "minah" character, which is a stereotype of a rambunctious Malay girl.

She adds: "The makcik character will be very loud and talks a lot. She's very noisy and knows everything. The minah character will be one who wants to shed her minah image by being all ghetto and talking like a black person. It'll be fun to do. Since I am Malay, I can joke about being Malay, and it's time to represent the female Malay population on The Noose. It's going to be good fun."

Currently, the only other Malay cast member is actor Suhaimi Yusof, 43. The other cast members are Chua Enlai, 34, Alaric Tay, 34, and Judee Tan, in her early 30s.

Filming for the new season is scheduled for late next month.

The Noose marks Siti's Channel 5 debut. She says: "I've never acted on Channel 5, but it won't be a totally new environment for me because I know Judee and Enlai from theatre, so it'll be fun to work with them. I'm looking forward to working with the other cast members too."

The full-time theatre practitioner is starring in ongoing stage show Jack & The Bean-sprout! until tonight. She was seen in such productions as Broadway Beng: Benging You Back To Basics (2013) and Gemuk Girls (2009) and has also appeared on TV channels Kids Central and Suria.

The Noose Season 7 premieres on Channel 5 on March 25 at 8.30pm.

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