When her husband, former Prime Minister Najib Razak, was walking the corridors of power from 2009 to 2018, she had never once experienced any major health problem. Rosmah Mansor, self-proclaimed FLOM (First Lady of Malaysia), did not even suffer any minor injury or pain, let alone hospitalised for life threatening diseases. At least, there was no such record in the Google database.
On the contrary, Rosmah was extremely healthy for a woman of her obese status. From fashion festivals to badminton games, she would never miss them. Yes, Auntie Rosie loved showing off her skill at badminton court. The legend has it that had Rosmah not married Najib, she would become the woman version of badminton champion Lee Chong Wei (damn you Najib).
Rosmah’s influence was so magnificent that former World No. 1 shuttler Lee Chong Wei once revealed that to boost his morale, he actually telephoned the premier’s wife – before and after every match – at the All-England tournament in Birmingham where he eventually won the singles title. Auntie Rosie was even given the honour seated in between Lee and his bride during their wedding.
The privilege to rub shoulders and be photographed with celebrities ended on May 9, 2018, when Najib lost the general election. Chong Wei no longer calls Rosmah for inspiration and motivation. The demands for her appearance at fashion shows also came to a sudden halt. She now spends most of her time seeking black magic to help her husband and herself, as both face dozens of criminal charges.
Even then, before the first day of her corruption trial, Rosmah was as healthy as a horse. Suddenly, she fell sick on Monday (3 Feb), the day she was supposed to turn up at the High Court. For the first time in decades, the Imelda Marcos of Malaysia was admitted to a private hospital – KPJ Ampang Puteri Hospital – for severe neck and back pain. It was so severe that her lawyer claimed it was life threatening.
Her hotshot lawyer Jagjit Singh told the court that his clients was suffering from “Chronic Adrenal Crisis, Cervical Spondylosis and Osteoarthritis” – sophisticated medical terms for common neck and back pain. Chronic adrenal is fatigue experienced by most people who had some stressful days hence the symptoms of tiredness, brain fog and lack of motivation.
In reality, cervical spondylosis is extremely common. This condition that most often causes pain and stiffness in the neck affected more than 85% of people over the age of 60 (Rosmah is 68 years old). Osteoarthritis, on the other hand, is the most common form of arthritis – affecting millions of people worldwide. Like an old car, these are “age-related” wear-and-tear problems.
For less than RM20, lawyer Jagjit Singh could visit a Guardian pharmacy and buy “Ammeltz Yoko-Yoko” plasters or cream for his client’s so-called life threatening neck and back pain. Rosmah can be assured of its quality and effectiveness because the medicine were 100% made and formulated in Japan to tackle bruises, joint pain, lower back pain, muscle strains, sprains and shoulder stiffness and whatnot.
Jagjit Singh appeared to be mocking and insulting High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan when the attorney referred the judge to a Google website page about how Rosmah’s pain could be life threatening. The lawyer argued that Rosmah had been given an MC (Medical Chit) hence she was entitled to six days medical leave.
Clearly, Jagjit Singh, like Najib’s hotshot lawyer Shafee Abdullah, was assisting the drama queen Rosmah with a silly sickness stunt in a last-minute attempt to avoid attending her corruption trial. However, senior deputy public prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram had had enough of the cheap family drama and urged the judge to revoke Rosmah’s bail and throw her in prison to ensure her attendance.
Interestingly, while Najib confirmed Rosmah was being hospitalised, he refused to disclose the reason his beloved wife had to be admitted. An incredible skilful liar who had used MC multiple times to drag his own corruption trial, perhaps Najib was afraid he might burst into laughter if he were to tell journalists that his wife’s conditions were as lethal as claimed by his family’s lawyers.
A former Federal Court judge, Gopal Sri Ram said – “This is unacceptable at all. The diagnosis written in the doctor’s report such as dizziness and body pain are among the things I am suffering from too.” Thanks to Gopal’s fierce objections, Justice Zaini ordered the trial to proceed today (5 Feb) and even offered Rosmah the privilege to come in a wheelchair.
But when Rosmah emerged this morning, she could suddenly walk without any need for a wheelchair. Auntie Rosie was actually able to walk unaided into the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex, despite the claims that she was bedridden due to the health crisis. Of course, her arrival was followed by an ambulance just to make the drama more believable.
It was both amazing and entertaining to read that Rosmah was hit by critical neck and back pain after she’s powerless now, but was fabulously healthy when her husband was the most powerful man prior to May 2018. She was often seen like a Christmas tree decorated with tonnes of jewellery including diamond necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets and whatnot, not to mention Hermes Birkin handbags.
On the night of May 17, 2018, police raided three luxury Pavilion Residences condominiums in Kuala Lumpur owned by Najib Razak’s children. Besides RM117 million cash and RM1 billion worth of 12,000 pieces of jewellery, an eye-popping 567 handbags consisted of luxury handbags from 37 different designers – including Chanel, Prada, Hermes and ultra-luxury Bijan – were confiscated.
It’s not hard to understand why Auntie Rosie had resorted to all types of gimmicks to avoid her trial. Unlike her husband’s 1MDB corruption and money laundering scheme which involved three continents, Rosmah’s corruption was quite straight forward. She had allegedly solicited for herself bribes to the tune of RM187.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd.
The money was kickbacks for helping Jepak Holdings obtain a RM1.25 billion project, known as Project Bersepadu Sistem Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Hibrid. The project involved installation of solar hybrid systems and for the maintenance and operation of diesel generators for 369 rural schools in Sarawak. Initially, the company failed to obtain the project directly from the Ministry of Education.
The company then approached Rizal Mansor, Rosmah’s former aide, who then arranged a private meeting between Rosmah with Saidi Abang Samsudin, the managing director and majority shareholder of Jepak Holdings. The meeting took place between January and April 2016 and it was held in the privacy of Najib and Rosmah’s private residence at Jalan Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur.
Auntie Rosie initially wanted RM200 million kickbacks (17% of the project value) under the pretext of a “political donation”. However, the rate was reduced to 15% (RM187.5 million) on Rizal’s advise. Jepak Holdings was eventually awarded a three-year contract. In January 2017, Najib personally oversaw the contract awarded to Jepak Holdings, leading to the official execution in on June 20, 2017.
But the first payment of bribes – RM5 million – was already made earlier on Dec 20, 2016, and the cash was delivered to Rosmah at her official residence in Putrajaya. The second payment of RM1.5 million cash was personally delivered by Jepak Holdings MD Saidi to Auntie Rosie at her private Langgak Duta home on Sept 7, 2017. However, none of the 369 rural schools in Sarawak receive any electricity.
A bank officer confirmed at the High Court today that Saidi Abang Samsudin had indeed withdrawn RM6.5 million in cash through two cheques (RM5 million on Dec 20, 2016, and RM1.5 million on Sept 7, 2017). Prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram also revealed that Rosmah used Rizal Mansor to make her demands and to negotiate the bribe that was to be paid to her.
Rizal Mansor, surprisingly, had his criminal charges withdrawn by the prosecution in the early January this year – suggesting that the former aide and special officer to Najib Razak could have turned as prosecution witness. Rosmah faces imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of no less than 5 times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
It’s highly possible that Rosmah Mansor could emerge the winner as the first member of the crooked family to be convicted. The year 2020 could be very bad for her as Mahathir administration is under tremendous public pressure to send someone, anyone, of the Najib families to jail.
Already, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has investigated the doctor who issued the MC to Rosmah, something that hadn’t happened before to Najib or other crooks of the previous corrupt regime who used the same tactic to delay trials. Furious, Rosmah’s lawyer Jagjit Singh has accused the MACC of trying to intimidate the doctor.
More importantly, the first day of the trial has already established what the public had suspected for years – Rosmah Mansor was the de-facto power-hungryprime minister, not the pink-lipped Najib. Despite not holding any positions in the government, FLOM division was set up as Rosmah’s office in the Prime Minister Office after Najib was crowned the prime minister in 2009.
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