ROSMAH Mansor came from a humble background but succumbed to greed and acquired a taste for the high life after marrying former prime minister Najib Razak in 1987.

The Straits Times today traced how the only child of a Malay school headmaster and his teacher wife in Negri Sembilan became an Hermes-loving spouse, whose lavish lifestyle is now blamed for ending Barisan Nasional’s 60-year grip on power at GE14.

In the early hours of Friday, police removed 284 boxes of handbags and 72 bags filled with cash, jewellery, watches and gold from condominiums in Pavilion Residences.

Police also raided six premises and seized documents linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal.

The haul gave Malaysians an insight into how “painfully out of touch with the people” Rosmah was and lending credence to rumours of the couple’s extravagant lifestyle while Malaysians struggled on a median income of less than RM2,000 a month.

Rosmah’s fondness for bags, particularly Hermes Birkins, which are priced up to US$300,000 (RM1.2 million) has long been a subject of national ridicule, said the Singapore newspaper.

Nevertheless, the former prime minister not only indulged the extravagance but also enabled it by helping himself to public funds, including billions of ringgit allegedly siphoned off state investor 1MDB.

On Thursday, a photograph of Najib and Rosmah dozing in their living room as police searched their home in Taman Duta made the rounds.

Social media users were quick to react with anger and scorn over the couple’s attempt to elicit sympathy.

Yesterday, Rosmah issued a statement urging the authorities to plug the leaks over the ongoing raids, saying that her family are being vilified in a trial by the media, despite no one having been charged with any crime. – May 20, 2018.