There’s a classic quote from Sex and the City: “This isn’t a bag. It’s a Birkin.”

A French luxury handbag, an international symbol of wealth and status, was thrust back into the spotlight this week in an unlikely place: a shopping cart being pushed by Malaysian police.

In further searches of homes linked to him, police seized more than 200 boxes of luxury goods, as well as 72 bags of jewelry, various denominations of cash, watches and other valuables.

Among the shipments were dozens of orange boxes containing Hermès bags (orange is the brand’s signature color) believed to belong to former first lady Rosmah Mansour.

Hermès Birkin bags range in price from $8,000 (£6,000) to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Many of the police actions were live-streamed online, so Malaysians waited as their precious bags were loaded into supermarket shopping carts (“This scene is ironic,” one Malaysian tweeted). He witnessed them being loaded onto a police truck and taken away. .

Mr Najib’s lawyer complained that the raid amounted to “unreasonable harassment” and that the items seized “appeared to be of insignificant value”.

But for many Malaysians, the harvest symbolizes the corruption allegations and reported lavish lifestyle that contributed to Mr. Najib’s downfall.

Malaysian police have confirmed that raids on properties across the capital Kuala Lumpur were linked to the investigation into the massive corruption scandal 1MDB.

Mr. Najib is accused of embezzling about $700 million from the fund, which is meant to encourage foreign investment in the country.

He has always denied this and is allowed by Malaysian authorities. However, he is still being investigated in several other countries and could be charged again in Malaysia.

Billions of dollars are unaccounted for, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

For years, Rosmah’s extravagant shopping habits and love of designer goods have sparked widespread outrage from many Malaysians.

As a result, the raid sparked heated debate on social media. #Birkin is trending on Twitter.

“Victoria Beckham is best known for owning up to 100 Birkin bags, but it looks like someone else may have taken her throne.” twitter user. Another user, Aisha Skoll, tweeted: “I don’t understand why Rosmah needed 284.”

“The bag is ugly, but it’s a better investment than gold,” said a blogger from Kedah.

The raid led to Rosmah being compared to the Philippines’ notorious first lady, Imelda Marcos, who is known for her love of shoes and jewelry.

But the scrutiny of Malaysia’s former ruling party’s fashion choices extends beyond Birkin handbags. A Facebook post featuring Malaysian politicians and the luxury watches they wear is also making waves on Facebook this week.

In contrast, and with surprisingly good timing, the new prime minister was spotted wearing common brown sandals at a mosque this week.

Supporters of Mahathir Mohamad took it as a “sign of frugality”, just in time for the holy month of Ramadan, a period of widespread piety and fasting in the Muslim-majority country. Ta.

“Our humble Tun Mahathir [doesn’t need] No Gucci or Hermès, just Bata,” said a Malaysian Instagram user, whose first photo of the new prime minister went viral.

Bata, a low-cost Swiss brand popular with schoolchildren in Malaysia and neighboring Singapore, capitalized on the social media hype and quickly claimed Dr Mahathir’s sandals as its own in an Instagram post.

No wonder this shoe sold out online.

So it’s no coincidence that he was photographed wearing $4 sandals, he says.

After a dramatic week, Mahathir, the shrewd politician, now appears to be writing the script for Malaysian politics, painting his ousted predecessor as the villain, he said.