Rosmah: GST can benefit ladies of leisure, too

 WDA: I do not know if the people should feel angry or sad on what prime minister’s wife Rosmah Mansor said. Maybe the appropriate reaction should be utter disbelief.

How out of touch can someone be? And this is not the first time she had made such insensitive remarks.

Can the poor housewives in the villages and estates able to comprehend how a person can spend more than RM500 on a baju kurung and RM1,200 to wash and dye one’s hair when they, on the other hand, can hardly make ends meet?

And to top it off, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan has the gall to say that he would look into providing guidelines for “home services” just because Rosmah was complaining about such high prices.

Instead, how about guidelines for the usage of the PM’s official plane for non-official matters? How about guidelines for providing special care to prisoners who has medical conditions? How about guidelines on increased security and better control on C4 explosives?

Get your priorities right, deputy minister.

Casey919: RM1,200 for a hairdo when most of those who voted BN hardly earn RM1,200 per month.

Amah: Minimum wage in Peninsular Malaysia is only RM900 a month whereas in Sabah and Sarawak it is RM800 per month. I guess this is not enough to dye hair.

Anon1: Which right-thinking wife of a public servant would boast about an RM1,200 hairdo?

That’s almost five percent of the prime minister’s official monthly salary. That money could have been put to better use by sending her to finishing school instead.

Anonymous: Rosmah, I can only afford a RM18 haircut, it used to be RM12, then RM15 and now RM18. After GST (Goods and Services Tax), I wonder how much it will be.

Dalvik: Oh? Profiteering is now the new justification for GST? Mind you, if the seller has intention to profiteer, there are thousands ways of doing it.

It is the authorities who failed to curb the profiteering activities. GST will not be the panacea against this issue.

For Rosmah’s GST logic, we should at least quote her husband: “Utter rubbish!”
RCZ: Firstly I wouldn’t pay 5 sen for that hairdo and I think she has been cheated.

Secondly, hairdressing prices and kangkung prices won’t solve people’s economic woes and the financial mess our country is in.

Thirdly, if this is the spokesperson for GST, God help Malaysians.

Well Thats Fantastic: It is nothing short of ridiculous that this government should want to inflict more hardships on medium to low-income earners.

That Rosmah is lamenting her high-cost lifestyle and how GST is going to affect her leaves me wondering if they ever think of normal folk.

Tax the super wealthy who are hiding their money and avoid paying tax, and leave the average struggling Malaysians alone.

Qistinaromli: Rosmah’s hair colour is not an issue, she paid for it using her own money. All traders will take advantage of this GST. Rosmah is advising housewives to be smart consumers.

Antiumnoa: Which common housewife gets ‘home service’ for hair colouring? I’m sure that even Umno politicians’ wives are cringing now that their ‘home service’ secrets are out.

And that poor fool Ahmad masquerading as a deputy finance minister is going to bring it up at cabinet. God save Malaysia from these imbeciles.

Anonymous_3e79: I help my wife dye her hair using retail products.

Anonymous_1405071260: Note that when she said housewives like ‘us’. That’s her ‘us’, not the rest of ‘us’.

Odysseus: She has to be told to shut her mouth. Otherwise, not only her hubby will fall, the whole BN will collapse along with her.

Doesn’t she realise RM1,200 is more than a month income for many families in Malaysia? She must be mingling with the elites for too long and has lost touch with the commoners.

Vijay47: Oh dear, being the wife of the prime minister is not a piece of croissant, what with thoughtless utter rubbish mat rempits who give her sleepless nights and heartless tailors and hairdressers who charge a large arm and a leg.

Poor thing Rosmah, we understand that even a RM200 price hike will hurt bad and eat deep into her life savings.

But being the trooper she is, she has to bite the bullet just to wear “proper clothes”. By the way, Rosmah, if you couldn’t afford the high prices, what kind of “improper clothes” would you deck yourself in? A bikini? Heaven forbid! As it is, I am already terrified by Japanese and Korean horror movies.

But you are right about one thing, that your laments will draw no answer from Abang Najib. We are all aware of his speech impediment.

And I simply adore the huge armchair you were berthed at – royal yellow for you and mud grey for the working class. Thank you, Kak Rosmah, for being you. And meanwhile, the ladies in waiting smiled lovingly.

Onlooker: I’m sitting here eating cake as my heart bleeds for her in her times of hardship.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakinisubscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakinisubscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.