Malaysia's controversial First Lady Rosmah may have thought that by handing over a RM1.8 million cheque to victims of the Japan earthquake, she could erase the bad memories of her past remarks that suggested that the catastrophe was of the their own making.
"No way. That is not good enough. Money cannot buy everything and it is not even her own money. If she is sincere, she should put aside her pride and apologise humbly as any good person should do," PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin told Malaysia Chronicle.
"It has also embarrased the nation and it should not be worsened by trying to use money to wash away the Japanese people's suffering. It also gives the impression that she is the power behind the throne and for any mistake, Malaysian companies and agencies will have to do national duty and cough up donations to help her and the country save face."
Power behind the throne
Soon after Japan was hit by the tsunami and earthquake last month that killed thousands of people and caused multi-billions of irreparable damage, Rosmah had made comments that sparked a furore in Malaysia, although there was tactful silence from the Japanese embassy.
"In my opinion, this (disaster) serves as a warning to other countries, before doing anything, or any form of development, they should study the environment and relate to climate change and green technology, including our own country," said Rosmah.
She did not take into consideration that Japan is located within the Pacific ring of fire and susceptible to natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons.
The 60-year old wife of Prime Minister Najib Razak is not a popular figure and her mis-step triggered a massive wave of spontaneous rebuke.
Rosmah has been accused of being ambitious and the brains behind many of her husband's major decisions and point to her playing an active role in business.
On Thursday, she handed over the contributions totalling RM1.8 million to the Japanese ambassador Masahiko Horie, who good-humoredly accepted the cheque without any reference to her faux pas.
The donations were made up of RM1.6 million collected by the Girl Guides-Maybank Disaster Fund in collaboration with The Star newspaper and RM200,000 from the Mah Sing Foundation.
Rosmah is president of the Malaysian Girl Guides Association. "The humanitarian effort reflects the close ties between Malaysia and Japan which is going through a difficult time," she had said. - Malaysia Chronicle
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.