April 28, 2013
Rosmah’s Gifts and Ethics
Recently Caretaker FLOM, Rosmah Mansor, said that she accepted all the gifts offered to her by foreign dignitaries because it would be rude not to accept them and what was a poor FLOM supposed to do?
“When people give you something, of course it’s not nice to reject it,” Rosmah wrote in a self-titled biography launched yesterday by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“And when I’m given the gifts, I wear them. Why would you want to just keep them in a safe when the items were given sincerely, are beautiful and can be used? It’s a waste if they’re just kept in a safety deposit box,” the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak added. (from Malaysian Insider here)
Well clearly there is another way to handle these situations. The Daily Beast is reporting that the Sarkozy’s used to lavish their friends with expensive gifts. The Obama’s received from the Sarkozy’s over $41,000 worth of bags, towels, etc. Hillary Clinton received three Hermes scarves.
How does the United States handle this? It’s simple. Sitting elected officials are not permitted to accept gifts from anyone. There are Ethics Committees in all branches of the US government that regulate what employees of the US government are allowed to receive and not receive. For example here is a snippet form the Senate Ethics Committee website:
No Member, officer, or employee shall knowingly accept a gift except as provided by the Gifts Rule.
A Member, officer, or employee may accept a gift, other than cash or cash equivalent, having a value of less than $50, provided that the source of the gift is not a registered lobbyist, foreign agent, or private entity that retains or employs such individuals. The cumulative value of gifts that may be accepted from any one source in a calendar year must be less than $100. Generally, gifts having a value of less than $10 do not count toward the annual limit. See Senate Rule 35.1(a)
The White House/Executive branch has similar rules outlined in detail here. It’s clear why such rules need to be in place. When you are in the seat of power, small (or large) gifts from foreign and domestic agents can be used as leverage in any sort of negotiation that comprise the integrity of the relationship. The onus should be on the public servant to want to defend his integrity to the fullest degree.
Which takes us back to Rosmah’s absurd statement. It speaks for itself when you’re talking about a party which is propped up by patronage and corruption. Accepting a few Hermes scarves, Rolex watches etc. is practically a non-issue when you think about the billion of dollars squandered away in no-bid contracts, flawed procurements and under the table deals.
The need for greater transparency in these dealings is essential. But fundamentally, people must elect leaders who they believe have a strong ethical compass that would make them think twice about these types of transgressions.–Din Merican
Din Merican: the Malaysian DJ Blogger 
The Sarkozys expensive gifts are nothing compared to the gifts from the ruler of a little sultanate located somewhere south of the Phillipines and north of Indonesia….. I have seen an entire store-room of gold plated cameras of an expensive brand sent to an engraving shop to have the names of recipients etched onto these cameras…… during its Crown Prince wedding to a basketball-playing teenager of Irish-Malay mixed parentage…..
and i thought gifts received during one’s tenure as FLOM are supposed to be returned to the nation upon the end of one’s tenure.
She can hold a charity sale and donate the money to charity bodies. The gifts are not part of her personal wealth. They are national assets. She has many more options than simply “wearing the gifts”.
Now I recall – the cameras were LEICA branded and gold-plated
Any defence attorney in a corruption case should forward this kind of argument…Only in Malaysia!
And Mahathir said the book is a good read!? Hidup UMNO!
A narrow definition of corruption can go this way: Any acceptance and retention of gifts by those holding public office (this includes their spouses) in their official capacity without declaration and going through the formal process set up by the government for this purpose, is corruption.
Some countries allow for such acceptance provided the person receiving the gift pays the valuation price of the gift to government coffers.
In SG and HK, the rule is that all gifts are PROPERTY OF THE GOVERNMENT..If the person in office want to keep the gift, he/she has to purchase it from the govt at its FULL market value or original purchased price whichever higher.
That’s true, unlike all other previous FLOMs, this FLOM is really gifted to shove down the throat of her better half anything that she might wish for – Open Sesame ! And the Cave with treasures opens its mighty Jaws for her to relish the magical gifts ! For, why should others pour Gifts onto her, if not for the fact that she holds the sacred Keys to open the Doors of wealth for people to secure……whatever they are desirous of, even if they have to crawl, they will SHOWER Gifts upon the FLOM !
Short cut to success & wealth…..these Cronies of Malaysia !
Reblogged this on jiwa hamba.
Accountability and good governance dictate that the publicly elected leaders and their family members will accept these gifts ON BEHALF of the COUNTRY. They will then declare receipt of these gifts and hand them over to the MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT to be kept by the government.
When these leaders leave their public office, they DO NOT TAKE these gifts with them.
These gifts are PROPERTY of MALAYSIA. These gifts can be sold at public auctions and the proceeds use for public purposes or charity purposes.
Just go check what the countries with high degree of integrity and accountability do. Start nearer Malaysia, for instance, Hong Kong!!!
For a “highly educated” wife of a caretaker prime minister; someone who holds a Doctorate of Letters from Curtin University, this basic responsibility as a spouse of a publicly elected leader, would have been so stupidly obviously.
This is clear evidence of how shallow thinking, ignorant and uncouth Rosmah is. In Malay, they it “kurang ajar” and “biadap”!!!
Kalau Wan Azizah jadi FLOM, dia akan buat sama. Mungkin lagi teruk. Kak Ros cakap jujur, tak pandai hipokrit.
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Betul lah tu, Makchik. Rosmah lebib baik daripada Malaikat Jibril (atau Jibrail – ﺟﺒﺮﺍﺀﻳﻞ/ﺟﺒﺮﻳﻞ juga Gabriel) –Din Merican
Isn’t there some kind of code of ethics regarding the acceptance of gifts in our government’s General Orders (or some similar document)? One thing the ex-PM Maha did right was exhibit the gifts he received during his tenure. In Langkawi.
Haiya, this is one of the subjects that Malaysia should follow the example of the USA and should be extended to political parties receiving financial funding from foreign sources.
Behind every successful man is a woman.
Behind the failure of that ahjibbkhor is fattyrosmama!
ahjibbkhor, better get rid of her before GE14!
Why didn’t she take opportunity to wear ALL MADE IN MALAYSIA brands? shoes, handbag, underwear, makeup, etc etc.?
BN Supporter, why ask us, as a supporter you should be asking Che Mah Chot and Bijan. Question is sampai bila you maseh akan jadi BN Supporter?
BN supporter,
Probably all the undergarment worn by her are of “Made in Malaysia” brand. She doesn’t want to show them off – why don’t you go & check?
Rosmah Book was tauted to be good for all women , to be read for the next 200 years , thereby granting her to be a good role model for women, but none other then then great ,self righteous person Tun Dr M. How do we respond to this?? It is important , that we need a huge clean up a book by book review of all accounts, raids in to all ministers and x ministers house and collections” , i really want to know how clean these and awesome these guys are..i could be wrong , but i am a betting man
Ali,
Check:
She is quite a dressy woman. Younger times in I&P, she was so beautiful, her looks can slain you. Now she is B&B. many kinky teddy cannot fit into her loh.
1Malaysian voter:
Some guys find joy in larger surface area; more to roam and hold. Long ago, Lat cartoon one guy buried between his wife’s stereo and therefore not listening to us.
Aiya, she probably gave obvious hints as to what kind of gift she wanted. Why do you think she accepted them all?? Greed lah. Politeness, my foot!!
Incidentally, the MCA call Ros, First Laoma.
In PRC, the first lady, Peng Liyuan is call GuoMu i.e. Nation’s Lady. She only wear National brand, EXCELLENT, holds a Brigadier rank, has a master degree in Fine Arts, entertains the military and is fit as a fiddle.
My wife equivalent rank to Lt Gen, but i lack even a single chevron. We can’t even afford Malaysian-Made Brand, but only made in PRC Moon Rabbit brand. So how?
Seriously though, the G.O’s do state the procedure for accepting gifts. The receiver is to either donate the gifts to charity and obtain a receipt (if perishables), report the gift to their immediate superior and surrender the said to the treasury, if deemed inappropriate. Permission to keep the gifts are made by Treasury.
But then who says Bendahara FLOM is beholden to the G.O. Remember Yen-Yen? Those 1-kati pearls are cultured from genetically modified clams. Or Kak Pidah, whose jewelry was mainly Real fakes, made of colored melamine and fused silica.
How come no One gives me a Rolex watch, DuPont lighter or a Mt Blanc pen? That’s all i ask. Small subsidy is not a Gift. Damn sad lah.. Come to think of it, i didn’t receive any BR1M oso? Again – so how…?
I used to work in bank. we have rules regarding accepting gifts – all have to be declared to HR whilst those above RM 250 have to be donated off. BAFIA limits cost of gifts we can give to customers.
So do not see why this is not practised by the government!
Gifts from foreign governments to the Head of Government and his wife remain gifts to the government. Period. A special museum must be built to house all official gifts to this country to show exactly what the gifts are.
A Prime Minister is paid a salary and receives other benefits. He cannot in good faith be paid from taxpayers money to receive gifts without telling the same taxpayers what the gifts are and why he should keep them. Gifts cannot be personal to the holder of the office. Under no circumstances is the PM’s wife is entitled to receive any gifts. Any personal gift to her must be declared to the Treasury, Inland Revenue and MACC so as not to compromise the PM’s solemn oath of office to discharge his duties without fear or favour to anyone, and these must be surrendered to a special body for safe-keeping and ultimately exhibited in a Foreign Gifts Museum.
Rosmah must desist from calling herself First Lady. Our First Lady is the Raja Permaisuri Agong. Period.
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Yes, the First Lady of Malaysia is Our Gracious Queen (DYMM Raja Permaisuri Agong). –Din Merican
Who dares to question the PM’s wife on what she can and cannot do? She’s UMNO, isn’t she? And who dares to question UMNO?
Hai Makcik, kalu aku panggil engkau bodoh,bahlul, engkau marah, ada juga manusia yg baca dgn terang tapi tak faham2.Jawapan awak sama mcm Mahathir, kalu PM lain bolrh tolong anak mereka,kenapa pulak saya tak boleh suruh Petronas tolong anak saya, negara in kan saya yg punya, I rest my case…Oouch!!!
You see in the episode “The Moral Dimension” Bernard Whooley, Jim Hacker’s private secretary has spelt out clearly why all gifts above 50 pounds must be given to the state. Of course 50 pounds then is more than 250 pounds now. Rules already been clearly. It’s definitely a violation