Jul 22: Prime minister Najib Razak has publicly thanked his wife Rosmah Mansor for agreeing to cancel his family's overseas holiday "for the sake of Malaysians back home".
Addressing a large crowd of UMNO members who turned up to welcome him at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Najib, who just returned from his official trip to Britain, the Vatican and Turkmenistan, said his wife agreed with his plea to cancel their holiday.
"I told my family I felt that I should return to Malaysia and that I was prepared to forgo the holiday for the sake of Malaysians back home," he was quoted as saying by government-owned Bernama news agency.
According to the report, Najib was to spend a week holidaying in Italy.
It was revealed in the parliament earlier that the government spent more than RM17 million for trips made by the couple since 2008, with one-third of the amount being spent in the first six months of this year alone.
The parliament was also told that RM134,317.76 was spent to cover Rosmah's expenses during her trip to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bangladesh, following criticism that she had spent RM140,000 for an overnight stay at Dubai's luxury hotel Atlantis.
The revelation was followed by another news about the alleged purchase of a designer diamond ring at a whopping price of RM70 million ringgit, with a blog publishing a screenshot of a customs declaration.
PKR-linked Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) led by Badrul Hisham Shaharin had lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the alleged purchase.
“We don’t want a repeat of the Philippine fiasco where the self-styled First Lady Imelda cleared public funds for selfish lavish spending,” he said, urging the commission to launch an investigation into the allegations.
Najib and wife had left the country days after the massive Bersih protest in the capital, which saw more than 1,600 people detained. Some 50,000 people thronged city streets after police the traffic and virtually locked out Kuala Lumpur in the hope of thwarting the rally for electoral reforms on July 9.
However, the Bersih protests hounded Najib and his entourage in London, with dozens of Malaysians and rights activists turning up wearing the yellow Bersih t-shirts shouting slogans against the government's handling of the rally.
Related:
All abuzz over Rosmah Mansor's 70 million 'ring'-git
RM5.4m travel bill by Najib and wife in six months
http://en.harakah.net.my/index.php/berita-utama/3190-najib-thanks-rosmah-for-sacrificing-italian-vacation.html
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