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No, Rosmah, you don't get to keep those gifts
Published:  Mar 21, 2013 8:50 AM
Updated: 1:12 AM

YOURSAY 'If she attends functions officially as the wife of the PM, those gifts presented to her do not belong to her but to the nation - it is not personal items for her to use.'

Rosmah: I'm not involved in Altantuya murder

your say Krish: With respect to the RM24 million ring, why would a ring of such immense value be brought to Malaysia for viewing by a third party.

Why would the PM's wife, Rosmah Mansor, go to such great lengths when, by her own admission, Maira Nazarbayev is a regular customer of Jewelry Jacob & Co.

Indeed, Maira (who is mother of Rosmah's future son-in-law) and Rosmah could have viewed it anytime elsewhere.

With respect to gifts received, I think it is wrong to consider them as her personal property. Those gifts are given in her capacity as wife of the PM during official visits abroad. They should rightly become state property in accordance to government guidelines.

And with respect to the FLOM (First Lady of Malaysia) title, this was never an issue previously because, if I recall correctly, none of the previous PM's wives addressed themselves as First Ladies.

To set the record straight, the relevant protocol authority must come out with a statement to validate the claim that it is okay for the PM's wife to be addressed as First Lady.

MC Leong: "Normally they give me watches, rings, cosmetics, and so on. Some of them are expensive and are specially ordered. When someone gives us something, it is not nice for us to reject it," said Rosmah.

Although you're not a government servant and you're not tied to General Orders pertaining to the acceptance of gifts, by golly you're the wife of the prime minister. You have to be seen not to receive gifts of high value. This is called integrity.

Kee Thuan Chye: Rosmah is not supposed to keep the presents given to her by dignitaries of other countries. She is supposed to give them back to the state. If she keeps them, it amounts to corruption.

As for the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder, does she rebut the allegations made by carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan that she asked him to help after the late private investigator P Balasubramaniam's first statutory declaration came out?

We are not saying she is involved in the murder, but if Deepak's claim is true, although that hasn't been established, we should know why she sought his help.

Malaysiawatch4: Yes, if she attends functions officially as the wife of the PM, those gifts presented to her do not belong to her but to the nation - it is not personal items for her to use.

Louis: Rosmah, you are either naive or imbecile to give such simple rebuttal to all the allegations.

You were alleged to be involved in Altantuya's murder. True, I might believe in your denial. But for information sake, a murderer needed not to be at the scene, especially when he/she is a person of influence. All he/she can do is to direct his/her henchmen to finish off the job.

Secondly, why must Maira see the diamond ring in Kuala Lumpur? She could see it at her own home. On top of that, a mere denial on such allegations is never enough to clear your name.

Cala: In a nutshell, many readers do not appear to agree with Rosmah's obtuse reasoning carrying herself as the First Lady. The First Lady is Agong's wife.

Second, she cannot keep all the precious gifts given to her by virtue of the fact that she is the wife of the PM of Malaysia.

Hang Babeuf: Just fabulous. I have never seen anything like it! "Malaysia sungguh boleh!" It sure can "explode" and "blast away", "smash to smithereens", all your normal, familiar political and human expectations.

Here we are on the eve of a fateful national election and we have the prime minister's ‘missus' (the great ‘FLOM') feeling the need to tell us that she did not herself murder a certain young lady who was said to be a bit too close to her hubby.

I feel I need to pinch myself and wake up once more to sane and serious reality from this bizarre nightmare. Can this "Punch and Judy" show be for real? Or am I trapped, unable to escape, in some weird nightmare world somewhere else?

Is this what national politics have come to? I am glad poor old Tunku is not alive to witness this shambles.

Geronimo: This woman needs help, and fast before she ends herself in Loonyville. To me, the Raja Permaisuri Agong is our First Lady, period.

Rosmah is on such an ego trip that she has to award the title to herself, and quite frankly, not even one person, locally or internationally, recognise the 'title', if you can call it that.

Most people will find it difficult to talk about their achievements without sounding pompous, but this woman really takes the cake. If this is not enough, she is nothing more than a full blooded bourgeois.

Changeagent: Rosmah once received RM7 million 'reward' from a Saudi prince after she ‘found' a precious box belonging to him in a cruise boat.

She also allegedly received 19 pieces of jewellery worth a staggering RM13 million from Deepak . Of course, it's not nice for her to reject these 'gifts'.


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