Rosmah is an easy target

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's wife, Rosmah Mansor, has been getting bashed left, right and centre by her detractors of late.



The most recent 'Rosmah-bashing' session took place after she was presented with an honorary doctorate by Curtins University in Australia supposedly for her work in child education.


Just before that, she was embroiled in a shopping spree saga in a Sydney boutique belonging to Australian designer Carl Kapp during which she allegedly spent A$100,000 on clothes.


Last year, pictures of a diamond ring apparently worth RM24 million (or RM73 million, depending on which blog post you read) were posted on the Internet and the buyer was alleged to have been Rosmah.


In fact, a fake Utusan Malaysia page with a fake report that Rosmah saved money daily to buy the ring was created by someone - obviously from the anti-Barisan Nasional camp - and was posted all over Net.


Rosmah has been bashed so much that one does not really know whether to sympathise with her or mutter "serves her right".


The question is this: Why does the wife of the current Prime Minister have so many detractors? Why is she criticised so often?


Nobody bashed the wives of former Prime Ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.


Could it be because Rosmah is more visible and therefore becomes an easy target for her detractors?


Whatever the reason, Rosmah must bear in mind that by being the Prime Minister's wife, she is a very public and important person who is always in the spotlight and everyone - both her admirers and (especially) her detractors - will be watching her every move.


Her detractors - and many are from the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat camp - will be waiting for her to make a mistake, use a wrong word, say the wrong thing, buy something extraordinary and pounce on her to bash her up.


They will snap lots of photos of her in public, record her every public appearance with camcorders or smartphones, and scrutinise every detail of what she is wearing. They will want to know whether her dress is from an expensive designer collection from Australia, whether her handbag is a Berkin, whether her ring and bracelet are from an American jeweller. They will want to know how many designer handbags she has and their colours, the types of leather they are made of - ostrich or salt-water crocodile skin - and whether they are off-the-shelf items or limited editions.


Rosmah must realise that this is the Internet age and information is merely a click away. Whatever jewellery (costume or designer) and handbags that she has while attending public functions can be cross-checked with the catalogues in the websites of designers and jewellers.


For her own sake, Rosmah must somehow become less visible and deny her detractors and Pakatan Rakyat strategists the opportunities to bash her.

When will we moo-ve on from Cowgate?

When will Malaysians moo-ve on away from the so-called 'Cowgate' issue?


Not in the near future. This scandal is too juicy as it involves a Minister in the Barisan Nasional government - Women, Families and Communities Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil - and her family members.


It also involves lots of public money - the family of Datuk Seri Shahrizat is alleged to have used some of the RM250 million in soft government loans meant to develop a cattle project to pay for luxury condos in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, expensive overseas trips and a Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class.


Though Shahrizat's husband Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Salleh Ismail who heads National Feedlot Corp, the company at the centre of the controversy, has defended the investments in the condos in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, as being 'cash cows' that bring in rental income and Shahrizat has filed a defamation suit against her enemies, more (cow) shit has emerged to hit the fan.


To be expected, Pakatan Rakyat leaders have exploited the Cowgate issue to the maximum. Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been using the Cowgate issue in his ceramahs and his sodomy case has been conveniently forgotten.


Barisan Nasional leaders seem unable to find a way to stop all the mud (or is it cow dung?) flung by Pakatan Rakyat leaders from smearing them.


At the moment, Pakatan Rakyat seems to be having the moral highground and Barisan is ineffectively fighting fires in the cow shed.


The only way for the Barisan government to clean up the shit is for someone to resign and for someone to be charged (and convicted; otherwise Pakatan will say it was a show trial).


Then Malaysians can finally moo-ve on....till some other whistleblower leaks out another scandal.