FREE YOURSAY 'Rosmah, can you hear the challenge from Down Under? All Malaysians are eagerly awaiting you to defend the honour of frugal Malaysian shoppers.'

Columnist defends Rosmah's shopping spree report

Onyourtoes: Dear PM Najib Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor, when the news first broke out, I was skeptical thinking that this was yet another attempt to tarnish your reputation.

But this time it is different - the reporter who wrote this piece has challenged you openly. You have to respond to confirm or deny this specific allegation.

If you confirm, you must explain your blatantly opulent lifestyle. If you deny, you must sue this writer and the newspaper in court.

It is totally unacceptable, no matter how stupid you think we Malaysians are in general, for you to remain silence.

Louis: Rosmah, you have been challenged once to take on Chegubard (PKR leader Badrul Hisham Shahrin) who alleged that you bought a RM24 million diamond ring. But you did not respond.

You were alleged to be gifted with Birkin bags worth hundreds of thousand of ringgit. You too kept your (not so) elegant silence.

Now, the allegation of your high-spending habit has gone international - and this coming from a columnist of a reputable newspaper ( Sydney Morning Herald ) - no longer can you remain silence.

Either you come out admitting your extravagant ways or take all those people to court. Being a PM's wife, you have a duty to uphold the dignity of not only your husband but the country as well.

Anonymous_4182: If the money is hers, legal and clean, who are we to say that she should not spend it anyway she likes?

But with election so near, and Najib on shaky ground as the next PM, it would be suicidal for him if any member of his family were to misbehave in anyway giving opposition an opportunity to really hammer away.

You think FLOM (the First Lady of Malaysia) will?

Hanyayangbenar: People on the streets just don't get it regarding the huge profits made by independent power producers (IPPs) selling electricity to TNB (Tenaga National Berhad), courtesy of lopsided power agreements, huge ‘cash-cow' flow into many highway operators' coffers where they can be bailed out by government if their business goes 'gulung tikar' without incurring any huge losses, and the market price distortion of so many essential items due to overwhelming monopoly by none other BN cronies.

So news of FLOM's spending spree in Australia will definitely strike the chord among ordinary Malaysians regarding the abuse of rakyat's money even though it seems trivial.

KSD: Rosmah, can you hear this challenge from Down Under? You know you have to sue now, right? All Malaysians are eagerly awaiting you to defend the honour of frugal Malaysian shoppers.

Armageddon: Come on Rosmah, sue Sydney Morning Herald's columnist Andrew Hornery.

Prove to him that you are a humble PM's wife and would not waste rakyat's money on such expensive clothing. Tell him you already have so many locally tailored dresses that you are proud of.

Osaki Delight: I recall a certain first lady saying sometime ago, ‘Let them eat cakes.' Don't people remember, especially Malaysian politicians and their spouses?

Rosmah's 'shopping spree' hits Aussie paper

Kanke: RM65,000 per night at the penthouse of the Darling Hotel - that's equivalent to what I earn in one year.

And RM325,000 spent in a single shopping spree - if my wife were to spend like that, I would have no choice but to file for divorce.

I wonder how much personal savings is required to allow a person to spend an incredible RM325,000 on one shopping spree alone. Two possibilities - either the person has billionaire parents or the husband must be filthy rich.

I'm just curious, how much is our PM's monthly salary. He must be earning millions monthly to allow this lavish spending.

Dear PM, can you please control your wife's spending and use all that money to help those poor rakyat who are striving to make ends meet.

PoorLady: OMG (Oh my God)! RM65100 per night? This can pay for my children college fees.

Hibiscus: Really, if Rosmah has to spend so much money, why do it now and in Australia? The timing is really bad.

Malaysians are tightening their belts trying to make ends meet in the face of high inflation. Najib would know this as he is all for the 1Malaysia shops to help the rakyat to contain their day-to-day expenses.

The Australian dollar is at near record levels, creating hardships for those parents funding their children's education in Australia. Buying Australian dollar unnecessarily helps to further strengthen it at the expense of the Malaysian ringgit.

Is Rosmah the Trojan horse in BN with agenda to bring her husband's political career to an end?

Absolom: What anybody and his wife do in their private time and their own money is their business. But if it is true what is being reported, it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Times are getting tougher for the common Malaysians, having to cope with increasing costs of living (way above the official inflation rate) and worrying about our children's future educational expenses and medical bills.

Despite all these, we pay our taxes judiciously and how does the money get spent? Well, we have all heard about the ‘overruns', the ‘commissions' and the ‘consultations'.

So in this case, if the report is true, we hope they are spending their own hard-earned money and we wish them well, otherwise may the peoples' curses keep them warm in hell.

Qiqi: It looks like the 'Aku Jimat' app needs an update.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .