Keeping mum is akin to ‘suicide’

Rosmah regrets not nipping rumours in the bud and says from now will confront all allegations head on.

PETALING JAYA: Rosmah Mansor has admitted it was wrong to not dispel all the slanderous rumours levelled at her and Najib Tun Razak when they first surfaced.

In her biography launched earlier this week, the wife of the PM broke her silence on the many allegations, including her involvement in the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

“Our mistake back then was to ignore these rumours because if we addressed them, the issues would be made bigger and sensationalised,” Rosmah explained in her book.

She cited officers in the Prime Minister’s Department who advised her to keep mum.

“I didn’t have officers to speak on my behalf because I’m only the PM’s wife,” she added.

However, Rosmah admitted that it was wrong to have stayed silent because “the more I stood silent, the more slanderous allegations were thrown at me”.

“When I don’t address the allegations, they think I am scared,” she said. “I’m not scared. I can face them.”

‘People can determine the truth’
Rosmah said she has since met with Malaysian students overseas to dispel various rumours, and that their responses have been positive.

“Face-to-face explanations work best. They (the students) were surprised and even shocked and asked me why nobody had addressed the issues on my behalf,” she said.

She added that she was deeply moved by “the many parties that love me” and promised to address all rumours that might surface in future.

“I will answer every question that surfaces so the people can determine the truth or otherwise,” she said. “Keeping mum in this case is akin to ‘suicide’.”

Rosmah’s 180-page biography entitled, ‘Biographi Rosmah Mansor’, was launched by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

It was authored by Siti Rohayah Attan and Noraini Abdul Razak. The biography is now available in bookstores and is priced at RM150 a copy.