Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong met up with his Malaysian counterpart, PM Ismail Sabri Yaakob in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Eagle-eyed netizens soon noticed that Sabri was wearing a pair of Hermes loafers that purportedly costs $1,500, with netizens being divided into two camps – one criticising his expensive footwear, and the other defending him.
DPM Wong shared a photo of their meeting on Facebook on 5 September, with PM Sabri looking riched up with the Hermes logo hogging the attention on his feet.
DPM Wong’s Facebook post
Called on Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today. We had a good discussion on bilateral cooperation, including in new areas such as the digital and green economies. We also welcomed the good progress on the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link Project.
Happy to also have met Senior Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Hussein. Thank you for the warm welcome and the fruitful meeting as we explored ways to enhance cooperation between both countries as well as within ASEAN.
I also met Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia Nor Shamsiah and we shared ideas on how both countries can strengthen financial cooperation in many areas, including sustainable finance, and regional financial stability.
A productive day 2 in Kuala Lumpur! We had many good exchanges and may our bilateral ties continue to deepen for collaboration and regional developments!
Netizens’ comments
Some netizens called him out for being “out of touch with reality”, and expressed their wishes that he would “kick the corner of the table while stepping on the head of a plug”.
Another netizen questioned the criticism and said that in such meetings, there is a proper dress code required and that “luckily the PM didn’t wear slippers”.
