M'sian PM Writes On Joy Of Meeting Twitter Followers

KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak may be thousands of kilometres away from home, but it appears that his interaction with a group of his Twitter followers here last weekend still lingers on his mind. In his latest blog posting, Najib related his pleasure of meeting his social media friends, especially his 500,000th Twitter follower -- student Anwaruddin Izzuddin, 15, from Hartamas -- at the Chawan restaurant in Bangsar over breakfast. "We discussed all sorts of things over nasi lemak, ubi kayu rebus and telur separuh masak. We talked about Malaysia, football and food -- including how ubi kayu became a staple food during the Japanese occupation," he wrote on his blogsite www.1Malaysia.com.my. The prime minister is currently on a four-day working visit to New York after concluding a visit to the United Kingdom where he, among others, attended a reception hosted by heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, in conjunction with the granting of the Royal Charter Award to the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Najib observed that his breakfast companions had all the best traits of the upcoming generation of Malaysians, "with their sense of optimism and their determination to make the most of the peace and prosperity we enjoy in our country". Referring to Anwaruddin, Najib said: "He shared with me his passion for mountain biking, and asked me how I maintain a healthy lifestyle. I told him that I have a fitness regime that I apply, and I even do some exercises when travelling, including during my flights! "It was encouraging to hear how important sports is to his life. I hope that this passion is shared by many of his fellow students." The prime minister said the 'offline breakfast' was overall a pleasurable meet up" and that he was looking forward to engaging further with his social media friends, online or offline. "It was particularly significant for me as I hit one million Facebook 'likes' two days before the breakfast," he added. Najib said as someone who valued social media engagement as an important way to connect with the rakyat, he was grateful for the continued support and feedback, and invited ideas for future initiatives to be posted either in the blog comments or on Twitter and Facebook. Earlier on Wednesday, he tweeted a message wishing all teachers in Malaysia a 'Happy Teachers Day' as he encouraged them to persevere in promoting education in the country. -- BERNAMA