Did Rosmah overstep her boundaries as prime minister’s wife?

Cindi Loo

Rosmah Mansor is probably the most controversial woman in the country today. Her constant forays into the public eye, whether private or official, are the reason why she is now the most “visible” woman around.

Malaysia’s self-styled First Lady could have done a lot of good for the government and nation with her initiatives at home and abroad but sadly, her weaknesses were exposed more in public.

If press reports are anything to go by, Rosmah had received more brickbats than accolades, perhaps rather unfairly at times.

Last week, she came under the media spotlight again after parliamentarians questioned whether she had overstepped her boundaries in using a government jet to fly to Qatar.

Asked by reporters about the issue at a ground-breaking ceremony, she merely said she was happy to do her job and would not stoop so low to rebut irrelevant allegations. She then directed her special officer Siti Azizah Sheikh Abod to respond to the queries.

Siti Azizah reportedly said Rosmah’s role as the wife of the prime minister is a good reason for the cabinet to give the green light to use the government jet for her travel to Qatar for the international business forum for women.

“The issue is that according to the government circular, usage of private jet is allowed for any VIP depending on cabinet approval. The paper was submitted to the cabinet and the cabinet approved it. So that’s it,” she was quoted as saying.

This was just one of the many occasions Rosmah has been the target of public ire; in fact, ever since Datuk Seri Najib Razak took over as the sixth prime minister of Malaysia, there were never ending stories about our “First Lady”.

It is probably this precarious title that got the public’s attention when a two-page advertisement was placed in the New York Times in 2010, congratulating Rosmah on being conferred the International Peace and Harmony Award.

The ad congratulated her as Malaysia’s “First Lady” and carried the message that Malaysia is proud of her for her efforts to promote peace, harmony and understanding. It was signed off by “family and friends in USA and Malaysia”.

It is still uncertain if the government had paid the New York Times for the advertisement, but its lack of transparency had certainly made it difficult for Rosmah to escape other allegations hurled against her.

The allegations include her extravagance in organising the inaugural First Ladies Summit in 2010 (which was never continued), that she had purchased a US$24 million ring which she had denied, and that she spent close to RM325,000 on a shopping spree buying 61 items from a designer during a private holiday in Australia.

Compared to those stories, the recent highlight about her using the government jet to Qatar seemed rather tame.

But some criticisms against her had indicated that her personality and personal lifestyle do not befit her status as the prime minister’s wife and that she had clearly crossed her boundaries.

A similar case also occurred when Hillary Clinton, then the First Lady of the USA, tried to push the US Congress to introduce a universal healthcare system, with the then President Bill Clinton setting up the task force with her being the chairperson to oversee the progress.

This was immediately met with strong reactions from Congress as Hillary had seemingly overstepped her boundaries and the healthcare proposal was scrapped.

But that did not stop her from becoming a politician in her own right and she is now considered a potential presidential candidate in the 2016 elections.

In Malaysia, the role of the prime minister’s wife has never really been defined. There are no hard and fast rules. But she is surely expected to be the dutiful wife and consort of the prime minister.

The title of “First Lady” has never been officially bestowed upon the wife of a Malaysian prime minister. It has seldom been brought up in public, until Rosmah came along. There was talk that the title of First Lady of Malaysia rightly belongs to the Raja Permaisuri Agong.

If we were to compare Rosmah with our fourth prime minister’s wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali who exudes grace and elegance, and had only appeared as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s companion at official functions, we would conclude that Siti Hasmah was a much better “wife” than Rosmah will ever be.

The negative publicity surrounding Rosmah could have also inspired PKR to launch a campaign in 2011 to present its party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the “better” wife of a prime minister.

They had released a series of interviews featuring Wan Azizah as the loving wife and mother who stood by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s side despite his many reported scandals, portraying her as the motherly, loving and modest lady.

But it’s interesting how female role models in Malaysia are supposed to be dictated by their behaviour and personality instead of their own achievements, in which case, I’m not sure if there are perfect embodiments of the status of a prime minister’s wife.

I believe there are women with aspirations to become strong and powerful behind their man and not just being contented with their role as nurturing mothers. This is well and good but Rosmah seemed to be pushing for that role, perhaps a little too hard.

However, if she was earning her own coffers as a corporate figure, spending her own money, she would receive less scorn about her luxurious lifestyle which, as her critics alleged, seemed to be only supported by government resources, or taxpayers’ money.

So did Rosmah overstep her boundaries as the prime minister’s wife? To her critics and detractors, she did. To her admirers and supporters, she is almost the perfect First Lady.

Ultimately, this is the question which Rosmah herself has to answer.