Wan Azizah was spotted with the beaded bag adorned with a distinctly Sarawakian motif.
KUCHING: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had brought a piece of Sarawak with her to the installation of the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong at Istana Negara on Tuesday.
Instead of some foreign handbag that could cost hundreds of thousands of ringgit, Dr Wan Azizah picked a beaded piece with a Sarawakian motif for the historic ceremony which was attended by the biggest names in Malaysia and dignitaries from abroad.
She told The Borneo Post that the handbag was given to her as a gift from PKR in Sarawak.
The chairman of the PKR Advisory Council did not know exactly which shop it was purchased from but she was informed that it was near the Kuching Waterfront.
Asked why she picked that particular handbag for the installation ceremony, Dr Wan Azizah said: “I am proud of our heritage. The bag is beautiful, it is full of beads.
“I felt it was lovely enough to bring to the Istana and it had a lot of space for my handphone and other items.”
A photo of Dr Wan Azizah seated in Istana Negara during the installation ceremony with the handbag tucked beside her and her husband, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, seated to her left has been making its rounds on social media.
The Keadilan Sarawak Facebook page carried the photo with the caption: “Siapa cakap TPM kena pakai beg beribu-ribu? Tengok TPM Malaysia pakai beg kraftangan etnik Sarawak. (Who says the DPM has to use bags that cost thousands? See Malaysia’s DPM using Sarawak ethnic handicraft bag.)”
Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah of Pahang was installed as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.