'Islamic fashion show' yarn doesn't measure up

YOURSAY 'So it took a week ... if Rosmah did purchase the dresses for IFF, she could just have said so when cornered by the press.'

IFF chief: Designer clothes are for my London shop

Onyourtoes: Raja Rezza Shah, who finance the Islamic Fashion Festival (IFF)? Is it a government project? If not, do you get a grant, soft loan and subsidies or whatever from the government?

Dear PM Najib Razak and Rosmah Mansor, with all the unanswered accusations made against you two - from the diamond ring to the A$20,000 a night suite to your opulent lifestyles and ridiculous shopping sprees - they remind me of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.

Maybe temperamentally, you and Rosmah are just not suited to lead a developing country like Malaysia. You have no sense of empathy and sensitivity towards the common people. I don't think you even love Malaysians.

It makes your BR1M, SARA, KR1M and Menu 1Malaysia look so phoney and hypocritical. I don't think the people will be impressed by all these gestures despite the millions spent on them. You could be more effective if you just stay truthful and honest with yourselves and forget all the gimmicks that are dished out.

Read my lips, all this ‘bantuan' is going to cause more dissent than goodwill because your incompetent civil service wouldn't be able to handle massive schemes like these.

FellowMalaysian: If Rosmah made no sizeable purchases as claimed by Raja Rezza, why could he not disclose the number of pieces she had bought?

As a patron of IFF, Rosmah has little business to invite fashion designer Carl Kapp to her Darling Hotel penthouse stay in Sydney to show samples of his fabric to her.

Rosmah will deny anything remotely related to her that she finds detrimental to her, and persons like Raja Rezza would have to fend for her.

Mat Malaysia: Actually, I am not interested in these frocks or who bought them and for what purpose.

I am more interested to know how someone on a salary of RM20,000 a month can afford to stay in a RM64,000 per night penthouse suite. No one has come out to deny this expense... yet.

Avatar1: So it took a week to cook up a story and get someone to accept the blame. If she did purchase the dresses for the Islamic Fashion Festival, she could just have said it when cornered by the press.

Well Rosmah, you can fool everyone all the time but the truth will prevail one day... and the day is near.

Cala: Looking at IFF chairperson Raja Rezza Shah's explanation, I cannot help but feel that he is trying to cover up something. Indeed as someone pointed out, originality is key to one who wishes to promote himself as a fashion designer of international standing.

How can this set of 61 pieces be regarded as stock to the up-and-coming Islamic Fashion Festival in London? Boy, is it not a form of plagiarism in the fashion world? And Rezza Shah is holding himself as a fashion designer? Malaysia boleh.

Free & Fair Election: Why did it take five days to explain this? Why did Rosmah just simply deny and not give an explanation when asked after the news broke?

Just like so many cases where it had taken so long to explain, Rosmah and gang needed time to concoct a story and finally Rezza agreed to be the scapegoat.

Slumdog: The exchange rate of the Australian dollar is much stronger than the Malaysian ringgit and the British pound.

So why would one purchase such an extensive range of garments from Australia to supposedly sell in London, plus incur the additional cost of freight and insurance?

Australia is known for many wonderful things but definitely not as a source of Muslim fashion.

Manjit Bhatia: Clearly, as other commentators here have noted, this newest claim simply does not add up. If someone was lying before, they're lying even more now.

The question is a very good one indeed, if you know how fashion houses are run and the big egos that go with them insofar as authenticity is concerned. Otherwise, they'd be laughed and derided out of business.

I guess Malaysians are still a long way from knowing the truth. Given Umno's track record, and especially all the rumours that have surrounded Najib and Rosmah even before he became PM, and more so since, who in their right minds would believe anything they say now?

Would you trust Dr Mahathir Mohamad? No. Then it's even less likely you'd believe Najib and Rosmah. Who smells a cover-up?

Anonymous: Rezza said, "Yes, these are stock for my shop in London, which will be a platform for designers of different religions and races from around the world."

Oh please, save your pithy 1Malaysia rhetoric for something believable.

Disgusted: Why buy scanty-looking ‘Muslim clothing' to be sold in London and from of all places, Australia, which is not known for cheap clothes.

Besides Islamic clothes why can't they promote our Malaysian-made attire, which is well known in the Islamic world? Where is the patriotism?

While Najib and BN advocate Malaysians to buy and consume locally-made products, they splurge themselves overseas.

Kalijamaludin: Lies after lies just to cover scandal after scandal. The excuses these people have used to try to cover up their sins are just unbelievable.

Rosmah is now rated above Imelda Marcos when it comes to spending the rakyat's money. Perhaps Malaysia will be exporting maids to Indonesia and Cambodia one day if BN continues with its uncontrollable corruption.

Malaysiawatch4.blogspot: This is taking a mickey out of Malaysians. The late wife of the last PM started a more palatable movement - to promote Malaysian batik, but this latest Aussie foray takes the bikini!

This shows how the government is spending recklessly while our children cannot even get a proper education with poorly-equipped schools and overworked teachers. So what has been the payback for this fashion fiasco so far?

Changeagent: When you visit Raja Rezza Shah's shop in London, Raja Rezza himself will beg you to buy all 61 pieces for only 50 pounds. But you know that the costs are A$100,000, so you ask why he's selling them so cheap.

He will give you a wink and say it is because nobody else wants it. - Malaysiakini