Aidila Razak of Malaysiakini does a rundown of #tanyanajib. Questions by LoyarBurokkers @jonathanfun and @faisalmustaffa (as far as we know from the Twitter handles) as well as by @LoyarBurok make it to her review. Tahniah! Now where are the answers?
By Aidila Razak
There were rants, frustrations but mostly a lot of laughs at Twitterjaya – the moniker for the Malaysian community in the microblogging website Twitter – when Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced that he will answer questions posed to him on the site this afternoon.
Asking users to tag their questions with #tanyanajib (Ask Najib), the prime minister promised to “consider” all questions asked between 4.30pm to 5.30pm.
But with tweets coming at about 40 tweets per second, the “overwhelming” response led to the PM announcing an extension of another 30 minutes.
The high number of tweets put #tanyanajib on the world top 10 trending list for a short while, but the premier failed to outdo tweets on the national football goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, whose name remained on the trending list throughout the Suzuki Cup finals last month.
Top jokes, however, came at the expense of Najib’s less than popular wife Rosmah Mansor, with many poking fun at her hairdo.
Some tweets were perhaps less easy to stomach for the premier, with many questioning him about the circumstances surrounding the grisly death of Mongolian model Altantuya Shariibuu, who was linked to Najib’s former confidant Abdul Razak Baginda.
On the serious side, cost of living, repressive laws, and the seemingly sorry state of public transport and education also made it onto the premier’s inbox.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Najib is due to answer selected questions, which were also posed on his social networking site Facebook via a Youtube video soon.
Below is a selection of the questions asked this afternoon. Tweets have been edited for language and clarity.
The first lady of Twitterjaya
@HilmilIsmail: How does it feel to sleep next to Rosmah? Mendebarkan (thrilling)?
@NajwanHalimi: Is it true that Rosmah uses susuk (charm needles) or bomoh (black magic)?
@MrKayMY: Why was Rosmah in Riyadh representing the Malaysian government?
@aleffush: What’s in Rosmah’s hair?
@kev_Q: I like your wife’s (singing) but where can I obtain the album karaoke version? The YouTube (video) seems to have been deleted.
Just for laughs
@tashny: Who do you think would win in a fight: Batman or Darth Vader?
@NatAsasi: Judging by your patriotism, I am certain you drive a Proton. What model, sir? I wish to emulate you.
@dawsydozz: What is the secret behind your juicy pink lips?
@badkitteyh: What do you think of (Penang Chief Minister) Lim Guan Eng’s hairstyle?
Some sense of humour would help
@idzwan88: I’m not smart enough to ask Najib good questions but I’m not going to waste Najib’s time by being a smart*ss and asking silly questions! Grow up!
@dearfirdaus: Why are Malaysians acting like baboons? See it for yourself at #tanyanajib. Is this due to poor upbringing?
An unsettled issue
@jonathanfun: Who stuffed C4 (explosives) in Altantuya?
@faisalmustaffa: Did you meet Altantuya in Paris?
@imranshawal: Is it true that you paid people to kill Altantuya?
Getting serious
@jenkinyat: If the culprits of Sosilawati’s death can be found in two weeks, why can’t Teoh Beng Hock and Altantuya’s case be solved in years?
@KohJL: On New Year, my favourite curry puff went up in price and down in size. Same for everything else. So how?
@JustinRoseworn: I’m married to a Malaysian for four years and have a child with a Malaysian passport but I can’t get permanent residency, why?
@ganee: What is stopping the implementation of Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission?
@izuedin: Privatisation is meant to draw a line between government and business but now politicians have big shares in corporations. What say you?
@LoyarBurok: When are you going to repeal section 15 of the Universities and University Colleges Act, Internal Security Act, Sedition Act, Printing and Printing Presses Act and Emergency Ordinance? (LB: emphasis ours)
@kcwai: Why do you allow Utusan spread racist venom daily in total contradiction to your 1Malaysia slogan?
@jayong28: Why are university students not allowed to be involved in politics but a 14-year-old is allowed to marry?
@corrinechieng: Why is our public transportation not strategically planned? Why are officials still using outrider, ever try driving on your own?
@najibrazak: Since we follow world fuel price for our petrol, should prices of imported cars follow world rates too?
@jimancadablancas: What happened to Rakan Muda? Millions spent on that, no follow-up?
@khooryan: Can we have a check how many ministers and top politicians send their kids to national schools?
@missy__a_n: Why are we producing so many graduates and yet a large proportion of them are unemployed?
And the million dollar question
@bluswhitehat: Will you even be able to answer all these questions?