Under fire – the ‘First Lady-in-Waiting’

malaysiatoday - [...] Kuala Lumpur resident A L Tan said Malaysians liked to compare Ms Rosmah to Ms Jeanne Abdullah, the wife of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, the wife of former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad.

"They say Ms Rosmah is not as humble as the present First Lady and the former ones," she said.

Ms Agnes Teh, a resident of Penang, said: "Ms Rosmah is seen as ambitious and arrogant, so some people fear that she could be a tough 'First Lady' who will be able to influence decisions."

But she added: "We shouldn't judge her while claims of her involvement in the murder are being investigated".

Ms Rosmah, the current chancellor of the Industrial University of Selangor, returned to Malaysia in 1983 after finishing her postgraduate studies, she worked as a business development manager for five years before deciding in 1997 to devote more time to her husband.

She is the second wife of Mr Najib, who divorced his first wife of 11 years, Tengku Puteri Zainah Tengku Eskandar, with whom he has three children, in 1987. The Umno deputy president then wed Ms Rosmah, with whom he has five children.

On whether Mr Najib, 54, will make a better Prime Minister than Mr Abdullah, political analyst Yang Razali Kassim of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, told Today: "That's what many people expect, though it remains to be seen. To begin with, he has a pedigree, being the son of Malaysia's popular second Prime Minister Abdul Razak."

But Mr Najib, who is also a nephew of Malaysia's third Prime Minister Hussein Onn, has found it hard to steer clear of controversy.... selanjutnya.