Money has always been a sensitive issue especially with the current circumstances. Therefore, you might understand why people would feel that it’s unfair for them to struggle financially as they watch others wallow in their riches.
On 11th July, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi had posted a tweet regarding his ‘expensive shoes’ in which Chinese-language newspapers had reported he had bought them at a cost of almost RM 40k. The Johor MB denied such allegations and accused the newspapers for slander.
According to the tweet, several Chinese-language newspapers had reported that there were claims made on social media that Datuk Onn had purchased the expensive shoes. The politician then took to his social media account and explained that the pair of shoes were a gift from the Sultan of Johor. At the time of writing, the tweet had more than 100 replies, over 350 retweets and 480 likes.
“Defamation & accusation need to be stopped. For the record, this is a gift from Tuanku Sultan. This is not a new thing, in fact, Tuanku has also given gifts to the previous government exco members and state government officials as a motivation to always work hard for the people,” read the caption and tagged the Crown Prince of Johor @HRHJohorII.
Some users had responded in praises towards Datuk Onn and the Sultan for their hard work and charitable attitude. However, other users were focused on the price of the shoe, regardless of whether it was a gift or not. “Motivation? The people gave you “mandate”. That should be the motivation. Unconditional,” wrote a user. Another wrote “The people have been told to be thrifty but the wealthy live luxuriously… Is this leadership by example?”
Surely, we would definitely accept a pair of expensive shoes worth more than RM10k if we were offered by anyone, too!
Neetashini Kanendran contributed to this article
