Yahoo – AFP,
24 Ferbuary 2015
Malaysia's
first lady, Rosmah Mansor, pictured during an
interview with AFP, in Putrajaya,
in 2009 (Photo: Saeed Khan/AFP)
|
The wife of
Malaysia's prime minister, who is widely mocked over reports of her taste for
luxury, drew fresh scorn on Tuesday after she complained about the rising cost
of house calls from hairdressers and tailors.
Rosmah
Mansor, 63, is a controversial figure in Malaysia, where she is routinely
portrayed by critics as out of touch with ordinary citizens struggling to make
ends meet.
The wife of
Prime Minister Najib Razak handed her critics new fuel with comments on Monday
lamenting the 1,200 ringgit ($330) she has to spend on house calls by stylists
to dye her substantial head of hair, and 500 ringgit for tailored dresses.
"We
have to make beautiful clothes to attend functions, but the prices are way too
high. For those who can afford, it's all right. But what about housewives like
us, with no income?" she was quoted as saying by the Malaysian Insider
news portal.
Malaysia's
minimum wage is 900 ringgit per month, though critics say it is seldom
enforced.
Rosmah made
the comments at a public event to discuss the introduction of a new consumer
tax in April.
"Is
this woman for real? Some families have to live on what she pays to have her
hair dyed," said one Facebook user, among a flood of social media postings
poking fun at her on Tuesday.
Said a post
on Twitter: "I hope to become a poor housewife of a civil servant just
like you Rosmah."
Malaysian
Prime Minister Najib Razak (C-L) arrives with his wife Rosmah
Mansor for an
official dinner in Nusa Dua, on Indonesia's island of Bali, in
October 2013
(Photo: Dita Alangkara/AFP)
|
Since her
husband took office in 2009, Rosmah has faced periodic criticism over reports
of luxury overseas shopping sprees.
The New
York Times ran a report earlier this month detailing purchases of high-end US
real estate by people close to Najib, and said it also had obtained documents
showing millions of dollars in jewellery purchases for Rosmah.
In a
statement to AFP after the New York Times report, the prime minister's office
said "We prefer not to comment on unsourced speculation concerning the
private finances and spending of the prime minister and his family."
Malaysian
police on February 14 seized a shipment of books lampooning Najib and Rosmah by
one of the country's best-known political cartoonists.
Last year
an opposition lawmaker was charged with sedition for producing a satirical video
that included a character widely viewed as representing Rosmah.
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