Rosmah faces bigger challenges with social media - Rizal

A prime minister's wife today has to face bigger and tougher challenges as she has to deal with various allegations and falsehood, especially with the existence of social media.

"Many people are unaware of the fact that the wives of former prime ministers had also fallen victims to baseless accusations, but back then, the accusations did not go viral like today," Prime Minister's Office Special Division principal assistant director Datuk Rizal Mansor said.

As such, he said the public should not be easily duped by stories from spin doctors targetted at Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor as they were not supported by solid evidence.

Rizal said this at the Speaker' Retreat course organised by the Communication and Multimedia Ministry tonight.

Rizal also said that the Permata Negara (Permata) programme, patroned by Rosmah, was established because the Prime Minister's wife had wanted to make a contribution to early childhood education, which was seen to have received less attention.

Permata, he said was not a waste, but an investment for children education, in which the results could only be seen later in the future.

He said those who knew Rosmah well would know that she was actually a warm and approachable person.

-- BERNAMA