By Juliana June Rasul

EVER since Malaysian pop princess Datuk Siti Nurhaliza tied the knot in 2006, the media has not given her a moment's peace.

She's been accused of stealing her husband, Datuk Khalid Muhammad Jiwa, a father of four, from his wife of 20 years.

In their three-year marriage, he's been accused of abusing her and cheating on her with stewardesses and other celebrities on the side.

Despite all that, the 30-year-old seems to have maintained a positive attitude towards the intense media scrutiny.

'What can we do?' she told The New Paper in a phone interview from Kuala Lumpur last week.

'People were talking about us even before the marriage!'

Years of being hounded for torrid details of her marriage doesn't seem to have affected the singer.

In fact, she counts herself lucky for having time to enjoy married life and travelling around the world.

Datuk Siti sounded happy, bubbly even, discussing her upcoming concert at the prestigious Istana Budaya concert hall in Kuala Lumpur - her first solo performance in Malaysia in three years.

Lots of holidays

She said that she's spent the past few years 'resting and going on lots of holidays'.

Asked to list the places she's been to, she came up with: 'Hawaii, Paris, Milan, Germany, London... I can't remember all of them!'

Apart from her travels, she has been working on being a good housewife, she said, by spending lots of time on her marriage and her stepsons.

She's also released two albums, Hadiah Daripada Hati (Gift From The Heart) and the more traditional Lentera Timur (Lantern of the East).

'I've just taken time to relax,' she said. 'Before my marriage, I was always so busy, and there was no time to go on holidays and to rest well. So that's what I've been doing.'

Is 'rest' a code word for 'avoiding public scrutiny'?

One can hardly blame her.

Since her wedding, the pop star has been plagued with rumours surrounding her marriage.

No thanks to the couple's two-decade age gap, observers were keen to pounce on any sign that the marriage was in trouble.

There were allegations that Datuk K, as he's popularly known, was abusing his wife.

And when Siti went for a pilgrimage to Mecca earlier this year without her husband, rumours flew that they were separating.

The couple took it in their stride.

After years of being silent on vicious talk surrounding their marriage, the couple made a joint appearance on RTM in February on a programme aptly titled Sehati Sejiwa (One Heart, One Soul).

There, they publicly stated their nonchalance.

'Only we know what goes on in our marriage,' said Siti.

She repeated that same mantra during this interview.

'We've gotten so used to it,' she said.

Asked why she thinks the relationship is constantly being 'attacked', she said: 'I don't know.

'Perhaps they wanted to 'test' us? Test the strength of our relationship?'

'When we first got married, when we got stressed by what people said, we'd say to each other 'Just leave it'.

'We understand each other, and only we know what really goes on.'

Siti said she saw the attacks against her as a trade-off for her quick rise to success.

'As someone who is always in the public eye, I have to be patient,' she said.

But now the singer is back in career mode.

After three years of rest, Siti said she's all geared up to throw herself into show business again.

And she's not worried that the rumours and her time away have made her any less popular.

'If that's the case, then I accept it,' she said. 'I've been in this situation before, many years ago, when other singers were coming up.'

'It's just what an artiste has to go through. There will always be someone new, someone better.'

New artistes, yes, but better?

Malaysian fans don't seem to think so. To them, Siti remains hot property.

Last month, she bagged four awards, including Best Album, at Malaysia's Grammys, the Anugerah Industri Muzik.

Tickets for all three performances for her concert this weekend are sold out.

Siti said she feels encouraged enough by her fans that she may never truly retire from the scene.

'Even if I have kids, I might just do work behind the scenes.'

On having children

She claimed that she and her husband have not made concrete plans for a baby.

'We're being patient. It's all up to God,' she said.

For now, Siti is stepmother to Datuk K's four sons, aged between 11 and 22.

Datuk K himself has sung her praises as the perfect stepmother - he's told Malaysian media that she pays close attention to her stepsons' schoolwork.

He also claimed she has encouraged him to spend more time with them.

Siti told us the boys are often part of their holiday plans. In fact, her immediate plans after her concert this weekend?

'Maybe I'll take another holiday with the family!' she said.

This article was first published in The New Paper.