Malaysia luxury lovers divided: some hide their Hermes Birkins, others carry on shopping
After Malaysians watched transfixed as former first lady's handbags were carted off by investigators, some are being discreet about their wealth, while others spend with renewed zest
It was Malaysia’s let-them-eat-cake moment: a change of government for the first time in 60 years, no prickle of tear gas in the air, not one shot fired in anger.
The carnage following the country’s 1969 general election had left people with a perpetual fear of voting opposition. But on May 9 this year, Malaysians changed the script and wrote off a scandal-plagued government.
As part of the new government’s reopened investigation into several billion US dollars allegedly embezzled from the investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), police seized 284 boxes of handbags comprising a significant number of Hermes Birkin bags, along with millions in cash, jewellery and other items, from luxury residences linked to former Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor.
Against this backdrop, the new government announced the national debt at 1 trillion ringgit (US$240 billion) and that tens of billions of tax refunds were unreturned. Just this month it also reintroduced a restructured value-added tax.
Amid all this, Kuala Lumpur made the list of top 10 cities for luxury store openings last year, according to the Savills Global Luxury Retail 2018 Outlook report. In this confluence of conspicuous consumption and austerity, how do luxury brands sit in New Malaysia?
