Do you know how much it costs?

I came across in Huffington about Michelle Obama's dress and how much it costs. Being the wife of the most powerful President in the world, she only wears a $29.99 GAP Dress. 

Maybe it is a symbol for Michelle to show how  we are free to wear anything we like even though we can afford more than that but it does make a good impression on her. Believe it or not, wearing the inexpensive dress has made me adore Michelle much more. It keeps my brain to keep asking this question- how much does our politician's dress cost? Don't say it is the private lives of theirs because once you are in politics, you should know that the business is about serving the rakyat and I happen to be one of the rakyats- the noisy one. Wearing a Zara makes the mak ciks, neneks, ibu tunggals and the poor in kampungs become more sad, don't you think so?

 So, the next time you buy newspapers, try to look at their photos and guess how much are the prices of politician's dress. Look at their hair too. It's something personal but you live the public lives, no matter what you are always being judged by the rakyat. Why? Because when you say you are pemimpin rakyat, the easiest thing that we can spot on you is how expensive your dress is. For example, when I look at a politician wearing an Armani suit, I feel that it creates a gap between me and him since I cannot afford to have one- so is this person a pemimpin rakyat? A normal person would be questioning if you are truly a rakyat's leader, then you should be like the rakyat. Be in the same boat, and together in ups and downs, we strive together. Berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijunjung. Hosni Mubarak, anyone?

The Prophet (saas) recommended to his followers to always dress well and to be pleasant in appearance and to look well cared for. At the same time, however, he also reminded them that those who grew proud because of the clothes they wore or the way they looked would be humiliated in this world and in the next. He told them to always be humble. Here is what he said on the subject:

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 680

"While a man was walking, clad in a two-piece garment and proud of himself with his hair well-combed, suddenly Allah made him sink into the earth and he will go on sinking into it till the Day of Resurrection."

This little thing is actually very significant for people to believe in you. Yes, your politician's dress! If Michelle being the First Lady of the most powerful leader of the most powerful nation can just wear a simple cheap dress, we, Malaysians are much happier to see if the wives of our politicians (who keep saying they are the pemimpin rakyat) wear clothes with the same price as ours. I know it is a freedom of choice to wear anything you like, but being the wives of someone important means showing how well you have spent the rakyat's money too. I don't know if people get this or not, but it's that simple.

Personally, I have always liked the way Zeti Aziz's always-with-baju-kurung-style and Rafidah's not big-hairdo and Wan Azizah's plain simple clothes. They really show how they work for the rakyat and not the other way around. 

“Rasulullah saw. bersabda : “Pakailah pakaian putih, karena ia lebih suci dan lebih bagus. Juga kafankanlah ia pada orang yang meninggal diantara kalian.” (Diriwayatkan oleh Muhammad bin Basyar, dari Abdurrahman bin Mahdi, dari Sufyan, dari Habib bin Abi Tsabit, dari Maimun bin Abi Syabib yang bersumber dari Samur bin Jundub r.a.)

However, we have to remember that wearing dresses just to show how inexpensive they are and how close the relationship to the rakyat also is not accepted by Allah SWT. Doing it for the sake of others and not for the sake of Allah SWT is also unacceptable. If there is no sincerity, everything is nothing.- The Chukai Insider