[Photo: Soccer player Baihakki Khaizan and his wife, Norfasarie.]

IT STARTED out as a romantic tribute to their upcoming parenthood.

Now, actress Norfasarie Mohd Yahya, 26, and national footballer Baihakki Khaizan, 25, are being slammed by netizens after a personal photo got circulated by e-mail.

In the photo, a heavily pregnant Norfasarie is wearing a bandeau or a small strapless top. Her husband is kneeling beside her, with a hand on her bare belly.

The e-mail, which The New Paper understands has been circulating since last week, contains comments condemning the photos, stating that it is “not in line with Malay values”, apparently because her tummy is visible.

When The New Paper contacted Norfasarie on Friday, the actress was reluctant to comment as she had “been through enough”.

She passed the phone to Baihakki, who said they were keen to put the episode behind them.

“We are looking forward to the delivery of our child,” said the Geylang United defender. “We can’t be too bothered by this, because she (Norfasarie) is due for labour any time soon.”

The actress, known for her work in Suria comedy 2x5 Dol, is due in four to six weeks.

The couple married in July last year. In a post on her blog on Tuesday, Norfasarie explained that the photo had been taken from her Facebook account.

She called the person who did it “irresponsible”, and warned the culprit that it would be easy to trace him or her.

She said the photo came from a shoot done earlier this month, with the same female photographer who shot the couple’s wedding photos.

“Its (sic) only meant to be for our eyes and the ppl close to our hearts,” she wrote in the post, entitled “Invasion of Privacy”. The couple had been alerted to the e-mail through calls and text messages from friends and family members.

Norfasarie wrote that she took it as a compliment “that some people want to know how we lead our (sic) life and how interesting our life will be as a so-called ‘celebrity couple’ ”.

But in a post dated two days later, the couple wrote that they were “hurting” and that the matter has affected their families.They said they have sought legal advice on the matter.

In the past, the actress regularly blogged about her pregnancy, describing visits to the doctor as well as sharing personal feelings on her impending parenthood.

She has also posted a video on YouTube showing a sonogram of her baby at 12 weeks.

The older posts have since been taken down, although the video is still online.

In another photo posted on the header of her blog recently, her husband is seen wrapping his arms around her bare belly. The photo has also been taken down.

Links to the couple’s Facebook accounts, though private, remain on the blog. Singaporean Malay mothers we spoke to say that netizens may have judged the celebrity couple too quickly.

Ms Farrah Diba, who has a 6-month-old son, said she doesn’t see “what the big deal is about baring the tummy”.

Said the 26-year-old teacher: “Personally, I was very proud of my pregnant belly. I took photos too, only I didn’t share them on Facebook because too many of my students are on Facebook, and it’s improper for me to be showing too much skin, pregnant or not.”

She added, though, that she would “happily share them with friends and family”.

She noted that such photo shoots have increased in popularity, thanks to celebrities like Demi Moore and Britney Spears, who have graced magazine covers while pregnant.

Ms Amirah Abdullah, 27, a mother of one, also saw nothing wrong in the actual photo shoot, but said itmay have been unwise to share the photoson Facebook.

“Don’t post them on the Internet and then scream bloody murder and accuse people of infringing on your privacy,” she said.

The tendency for people to pick up on such things is natural, she added.

“Of course, there will be people who have nothing better to do.”

This article was first published in The New Paper.