Watch out for extra-long left sleeves
MyWatch exposes politicians’ luxury watches
Vijay47: Through lessons learned from monuments of frugality, industriousness, and favourable family fortunes, Umno politicians no doubt would have numerous tales of explanations in respect of their timely worldly possessions.
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for one, could justify his alleged RM293,000 watch to those days years ago when he was a vagrant wandering the back lanes of Indonesia collecting scrap and waste for sale to second-hand dealers the proceeds of which, through dint of determined saving and long spells of fasting, have accumulated over the years to a tidy nest-egg.
From such funds, spending RM293,000 hardly creates a dent. As for PM Najib Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor, and his cousin Hishammuddin Hussein, their wealth, as previously explained in the couple’s case, derives from painful savings kept aside for rainy days by their hard-working prime minister fathers.
For Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, her husband, and the rest of the herd, their riches are certainly due to astute business ventures where the cows have come home. Time and tide may wait for no man, but watch it.
Blackmoon: Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach Mount Everest was asked why he climbed the mountain and his answer, “Because it is there.”
This is why these men wear luxury watches. Anyway, what are watches made for if not to be worn on the wrist?
Different people have different taste. If one can afford luxury, why be a miser like the old man, Lim Kit Siang? Otherwise, you be labelled a cheapskate Chinaman.
Turvy: Watches have a tremendous narrative. What demented mind can go into a shop and buy a RM300,000 timepiece? Hillary’s Everest? Balls.
They sell these overpriced things only because they know there are idiots who will pay the price. There is always an Everest of thieves and fools for men to produce such senseless products.
I mean, is time relative in any way to the price of the watch? Will an expensive watch give you more time, make time more precious, or make you spend it more fruitfully?
Look into any coffee shop and you’ll find the time on a clock on the wall. Outside the shop, on the pavement, you’ll see a woman and a child begging for food.
The time on your wretched watch will not relieve them their misery. Nor your own wretchedness that you live off their need.
Bringon14: Blackmoon, you called LKS (Lim Kit Siang) a cheapskate Chinaman. The truth of the matter is that the greatness of a man is not measured by how much the timepiece he wears on his hand cost, but by the character of the person and the principles he holds dear.
LKS is well-known for being a person of great integrity and principle. The RM270 timepiece that he wears shows that he does not place value on temporal things like watches.
On the other hand, if a person needs expensive toys (that include watches, cars, and for some people, handbags) to make him or her feel great, then that person is really very small indeed.
Dont Just Talk: I guess this is what the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is all about, and here we are wearing old, yet reliable Seiko watches at a market price of RM250 but it still gives the same time as the Richard Mille Lady Diamond Cruncher, costing RM486,000.
How these political leaders have the means to buy such expensive and branded watches is beyond us.
Xed: There are a number of possible reasonable explanations for those expensive watches.
Gifts on birthdays and wedding anniversaries, at weddings, upon having completed one year in service as an MP, for having officiated at the opening of a scrap metal dealer’s yard, when getting engaged to be married, and on achieving something (even something silly, like wearing a cheap suit all day), inheritance, a prize, an award (for peace, public service, etc), from savings, from a treasure hunt in international waters where the owner cannot be found (locally-found treasure ends up with the state), etc.
And, of course, for services rendered.
Abasir: I understand that the frugal Abdul Razak Hussein left behind a fortune for Najib as clarified by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) statement, but what about the others?
Did they too inherit their wealth or did the save every sen over the last 30 years to indulge in these luxuries? And finally, did they all declare their collections when they took office? Or were they acquired in the course of their duties?
Sirach: Indeed, this makes Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin’s comment that ministers have declared their assets to the PM all the more farcical.
When we have a PM and his wife flaunting their wealth so openly, how can the rakyat take any comfort from such declarations? Leaders of tin-pot dictatorships can take some lessons from our lot.
Negarawan: The materialistic Umno politicians just go to show how detached they are from moral and religious values and principles. They do not know the meaning of hardship, having been raised with a silver spoon.
We need leaders who can lead by example, not hypocrites. We need frugal leaders who honestly understand the economic hardship of the rakyat, not flamboyant show-offs.
It is of no surprise why these Umno politicians balk at declaring their assets to the rakyat. Thanks to MyWatch R Sri Sanjeevan for this very good report.
888: I used to wear a 100 yen (RM3.80) watch bought from a ‘100 Yen’ shop in Tokyo. I wore it for several years until the battery ran out. It kept very good time. Alas, I had to throw it away because replacing the battery cost more than the watch.
Anonymous_1403851580: For me, I am not wearing any watch because the clock is in my RM90 Nokia phone.
Malaysia Ku: You will soon notice a change of wardrobe by these Umno politicians. The left sleeve will be extra-long compared to the right one.
Truth Prevails: However expensive your watch is, it still only tells the time, day and date and it has no economic value.
There is nothing extraordinary except that it is either very expensive or cheap, and in most instances, it makes one looks like a real fool.
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