"I Don't Own A Rolex," Ahmad Maslan Denies Photo Exposé On The Watches Our Politicians Own
MyWatch Chairman Sri Sanjeevan says the photo series of politicians wearing luxury watch was eight to nine months in the making.
By Mei Mei Chu — 13 Apr 2015, 06:34 PM
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan has denied owning any Rolexes or luxury watches following an "exposé" by crime watchdog Sri Sanjeevan
Fitnah! Ini kerja pembangkang! Saya tak pernah ada Rolex Submariner & tak pernah memakainya. Jam saya yg biasa saja. pic.twitter.com/1MJs22sHOX
— Ahmad Maslan (@ahmadmaslan) April 13, 2015
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan has accused the opposition of defaming him about a luxury watch that he allegedly owned.
In a tweet, the Pontian MP said he never owned a Rolex Submariner, let alone worn the watch. "Lies! This is the work of the opposition. I don’t own a Rolex Submariner and never worn it. My watch is an ordinary one."
Over the weekend, Sri Sanjeevan, the chairman of MyWatch published a series of photos on Facebook depicting politicians and the value of the many luxury watches they own
The pictures show senior officials and politicians wearing different luxurious watches on different occasions.
malaysiakini.comAmong the politicians featured were:
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
First Lady Rosmah Mansor
Home Minister Zahid Hamidi
Minister of Defence Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein
Minister of Youths and Sports Khairy Jamaluddin
Opposition leaders, namely Lim Kit Siang, Anwar Ibrahim, and Nik Aziz, were also featured
Dr Mahathir, who has been hitting out on Naijb's ethics and capabilities as a leader, was published with a RM1020 Casio watch
According to Malaysiakini, Sanjeevan and his team at MyWatch took eight to nine months to complete the project
When contacted by Malaysiakini, Sanjeevan said that it was an effort done by people in MyWatch and it took them eight to nine months to accomplish the mission.
He said they had photographed the senior officials and the politicians when they were wearing those watches at different occasions and compared them with the price list on several watch manufacturers' websites.
They stressed that there was no political motive nor intention to insult behind the photo series. "I just want the public to know what kind of lifestyle these politicians are adopting."
However, he stressed that this does not imply that the politicians were super rich nor was his NGO trying to insult them.
“I just want the public to know what kind of lifestyle these politicians are adopting. For example, Mahathir does not wear a watch on some occasions; same goes for Nik Aziz.
“But look at the prime minister and others. On different occasions, they wear different watches,” he said.“I don’t want this to become an issue. This is not some exposure. It is just for the ‘general knowledge’ purpose.
“I don’t want to politicise this, this is not about the question of politics,” he added.
The photo series has since gone viral on Facebook, with over 43,000 shares at press time
There was a mixed of reaction from Sri Sanjeevan's post. Commenters were not shocked, but rather exasperated that the public servants were able to afford such luxurious watches.
"I don't see anything wrong with having a good quality watch. Some people got expensive taste not sure about the source of money though," says Renganathan Palanisamy.
Many hinted that there was double standard at play as Sanjeevan reportedly spent RM340,000 on two car number plates last year.
Other requested for Sanjeevan to be fair by featuring more Pakatan Rakyat party members for a more reasonable judgement.