Yesterday, Nurul Izzah issued an apology after Rosmah said she felt slighted by the former calling her by her name rather than an honorific.
“Honestly, if I had inadvertently called her just by her name, I apologise. I have always done my best to address her by Datin Seri,” she told Malaysiakini.
Nurul also revealed that her mother, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and Rosmah had both attended the Tunku Kurshiah College in Seremban.
Speaking to BN women members in Lembah Pantai – where Nurul Izzah is the incumbent MP – Rosmah had said that she was friends with Wan Azizah and frequented the family home in the past.
Their husbands, jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, were once allies in Umno.
Nurul is entitled to apologise, a sign that she is a well mannered individual, who would not wish to show disrespect to a woman who is unmistakably considerably older than herself (despite the millions of taxpayers’ ringgit expended on attempting to look otherwise) and who clearly puts a lot of stock by the titles she has managed to swing.
On the other hand, Malaysia is a democracy (still… just) and not an absolute monarchy, so the people (and commentators) can refer to Rosmah how they like, because she may be ‘Datin Seri’, but they are her husband’s theoretical boss (even if she is his real boss).
They would with accuracy be entitled to call her a major thief, a cheat, dangerous, jealous, plug ugly, greedy in all respects, nonetheless pitfully vain and disrespectful of the truth and the rights of others.
Also, she’s a hypocrite. After all, this is the woman whose husband’s main election stance involves positively mocking a senior and more successful politician for nothing more than being…. old!
But, Malaysians ought bear one thing in mind. If they vote back Najib, thereby letting Rosie off the hook on all her crimes, then soon enough, anyone who doesn’t call her by sufficient titles and go grovelling to her on bended knee can expect to have their heads chopped off under Hudud Law!