Najib Razak was unseated as Prime Minister of Malaysia after an election defeat in May 2018, but he retains the support of many of his countrymen, as does his wife, Rosmah Mansor.
Little wonder then that their supporters were unhappy with comedians who made fun of the former PM and his wife in a comedy sketch by a group called Puteh (Malay for white) that aired last weekend.
“Thousands of Najib supporters… attacked the comedians” after the sketch aired, says one report.
The former PM, currently on trial on four charges of abusing his position to obtain millions in funds from the country’s sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB, and also facing 21 counts of money laundering, retains a faithful following.
In 2019, his wife was hit with 17 charges of money laundering, bribery and corruption involving millions.
The backlash from the couple’s fans prompted the Puteh trio to apologise to Najib in person.
“We would like to say sorry for portraying you and your wife in the Maharaja Lawak Mega comedy show on Sunday. We just wanted to entertain our audience,” said Syed Ali Mubarak, the leader of the trio.
Najib accepted the apology, but added, “My wife and I felt humiliated by the show, even though it was only comedy. Never mind, let this be a lesson.”
Clips from the sketch can still be viewed online, however.
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This is far from the first time the Malaysian power couple have been mocked. Cartoonists have regularly caricatured Rosmah who was caricatured in 2019 for helping to “take down a Malaysian prime minister“.
One of the cartoonists, Zunar, regularly drew Rosmah with jewellery, luxury handbags and designer shoes, which led to several criminal charges being filed against him.
In 2018, social media influencer and self-confessed makeup addict Xiaxue transformed herself into Rosmah for Halloween, posing for photos that went viral.
Xiaxue said it was a Halloween makeup tutorial she created. She turned herself into Rosmah’s doppelgänger, and in October 2018, revealed a two-second sneak peek of the tutorial on Instagram Stories. The whole process, she said, with prosthesis moulded by hand, took her about four hours to complete.
That stunt landed the social media influencer in hot water, as she received many threats after the video went up. She said she feared for her life and regretted making that Rosmah-themed make-up video.
The lesson is clear: You may think it’s funny but don’t make fun of them. /TISG
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