Malaysia politics: $4 sandals vs luxury Birkin bags
马来西亚政治对手的较量：4美元的凉鞋VS奢侈品Birkin包
There's a classic quote from Sex and the City that goes: "It's not a bag. It's a Birkin".
《欲望都市》中有一句经典台词:“这不是包。这是Birkin”。
The French luxury handbag, an international symbol of wealth and status, made a return to the spotlight this week in an unlikely place: a shopping trolley pushed by police in Malaysia.
本周，在马来西亚警方的推动下，这个在国际上代表着财富和地位象征的法国奢侈手提包在出乎意料的地方-马来西亚警方的购物手推车里，再次成为人们关注的焦点。
Late Wednesday night, dozens of armed police officers raided the private apartments of ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak, a week after his dramatic election defeat to former ally, Mahathir Mohammad.
在选举中惨败给前盟友马哈蒂尔·穆罕默德的一周后，周三深夜，数十名武装警察突袭搜查了前总理纳吉布·拉扎克的私人公寓。
In further raids on properties linked to him, police seized more than 200 boxes of luxury items, along with 72 bags of jewellery, cash of various denominations, watches and other valuables.
警方进一步搜查了他的财物，查获了200多箱奢侈品，以及72袋珠宝、面额不等的现金、手表和其他贵重物品。
Among the haul were dozens of orange boxes containing Hermes bags (orange is the brand's signature colour) apparently belonging to former first lady Rosmah Mansor.
其中有数十个装着爱马仕手袋的橙色盒子(橙色是该品牌的标志性颜色)，显然属于前第一夫人罗玛·曼索尔。
A Hermes Birkin bag can cost anything from $8,000 (£6,000) to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Much of the police action was live-streamed online, so Malaysians have watched as the precious bags were loaded on to supermarket shopping trolleys ("The irony of this scene," tweeted one Malaysian) before being loaded on to waiting police trucks and taken away.
爱马仕铂金包的售价从8000美元（6000英镑）到数十万美元不等。警方的大部分行动都在网上直播，所以马来西亚人都看到这些奢侈包被装在了超市购物车里（“这个场面十分讽刺”，一名马来西亚人在推特上说道），然后被装上了一旁等待的警车并被带走。
Mr Najib's lawyer has complained that the raids amount to "unwarranted harassment" and that the items seized "would seem of insignificant value".
纳吉布的律师抱怨说，这些突袭行动是“毫无证据的骚扰”，而被扣押的物品“并非价值不菲”。
But for many Malaysians, the haul symbolises the corruption allegations and reported lavish living which contributed to Mr Najib's downfall.
但对许多马来西亚人来说，这一事件象征着腐败指控，并有报道称奢侈的生活导致了纳吉布的下台。
Malaysian police have confirmed that the raids on properties across the capital, Kuala Lumpur, were related to investigations into 1MDB, a major corruption scandal.
马来西亚警方已经证实，对首都吉隆坡的搜查行动与 “一马发展”基金(简称1MDB)的调查有关，这是一起重大的腐败丑闻。
Mr Najib is accused of pocketing some $700m from the fund, which was meant to boost foreign investment in the country.
纳吉布被指控从该基金中侵吞了约7亿美元，声称是为了促进外资投资。
He has always denied this and has been cleared by Malaysian authorities. But he is still being investigated in several other countries - and may face charges again in Malaysia.
According to the US Justice Department, billions of dollars are missing.
他一直否认这一指控，而且马来西亚当局也在澄清。但他仍在其他几个国家接受调查，并可能在马来西亚再次面临指控。据美国司法部称，数十亿美元离奇失踪。
Over the years, Ms Rosmah's indulgent shopping habits and her love for branded goods have cultivated widespread resentment from many Malaysians.
多年来，罗玛女士放纵的购物习惯和对奢侈品的热爱，引起了许多马来西亚人的普遍不满。
So on social media, the raids fuelled intense discussion. #Birkin has been trending on Twitter.
因此，在社交媒体上，这次突袭引发了激烈的讨论。#Birkin在Twitter上的热度居高不下。
"Victoria Beckham is well known for owning as many as 100 Birkin bags but it looks like someone else might have taken over her throne," said this Twitter user. "I just don't understand why Rosmah needed 284 pieces," tweeted another user Aisyah Sukor.
一位Twitter用户说：“维多利亚·贝克汉姆以拥有多达100个Birkin包而闻名，但这似乎看起来像是有人已经接替了她的宝座。”“我只是不明白Rosmah为什么需要284个Birkin，”推特上的另一位用户Aisyah Sukor说。
Some even said they were not aware that such luxurious bags existed until Ms Rosmah came along.
有些人甚至表示，直到Rosmah女士出现之前，他们并不知道如此奢侈的包的存在。
Although one blogger from Kedah state pointed out: "The bags are ugly but they are better investments than gold."
尽管Kedah的一位博主指出：“包很丑，却是比黄金更好的投资。”
The raid has earned Ms Rosmah comparisons to another infamous first lady, Imelda Marcos of the Philippines, notorious for her love for shoes and jewellery.
这次突袭事件让网友将罗哈斯女士与另一位声名狼藉的第一夫人——菲律宾的伊梅尔达·马科斯相提并论，她因对鞋子和珠宝的热爱而臭名昭著。
But the scrutiny over the fashion choices of Malaysia's former ruling party did not stop at Birkin handbags. A Facebook post showcasing Malaysian politicians and the extravagant watches they wear has also been making waves on Facebook this week.
但对马来西亚前执政党时尚选择的审查并没有停留在Birkin手袋上。Facebook上的一篇文章展示了马来西亚政客以及他们所穿戴的奢侈手表，这周也在Facebook上引起了轰动。
In contrast - and with remarkably good timing - the new prime minister was spotted this week wearing a pair of common brown sandals at a mosque.
相比之下，会逢其适，本周新任总理被目击在清真寺里穿着一双普通的棕色凉鞋。
Mahathir Mohamad's supporters took this to be a "sign of frugality", just in time for the holy month of Ramadan, a time of piety and fasting widely observed in the Muslim-majority country.
马哈蒂尔·穆罕默德的支持者认为这是“节俭的标志”，正好是斋月的神圣时间，在穆斯林占多数的国家，虔诚斋戒引发众人注目。
"Our humble Tun Mahathir [doesn't need] no Gucci or Hermes, just Bata is good to go," said a Malaysian Instagram user who first shared a picture of the new prime minister in a post that swiftly went viral. Tun is a Malay term of respect.
一位马来西亚的Instagram用户说:“我们的马哈蒂尔不需要古驰或爱马仕，只要巴塔(Bata)就好了。”Tun是一种马来语。
Bata, a low-cost Swiss brand popular among schoolchildren in Malaysia and neighbouring Singapore, cashed in on the social media hype and quickly claimed Dr Mahathir's sandals as their own in this Instagram post.
巴塔(Bata)是一个低成本的瑞士品牌，在马来西亚和邻国新加坡的学生中很受欢迎。巴塔在社交媒体上大肆宣传，并在Instagram帖子中称马哈蒂尔的凉鞋来自于他们自己的品牌。
No surprises that the shoes have now sold out online.
不出所料，这双鞋现在已经在网上售罄。
中英双语呈现，还可以加强英语学习哦！
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