1Malaysia Tea Party with the Prime Minister - 13/3/2010

I was one of the 300 Facebook friends who was invited and attended the Hi-Tea Party hosted by YAB Dato' Seri Mohd Najib Tun A. Razak (DSN), the Prime Minister at Seri Perdana Putrajaya. In his welcoming remarks, the Prime Minister indicated that the Event was organised for him to get to know his Fb friends and to indirectly interact with the rakyat, as more and more Malaysians are actively participating in the internet. Internet breaks down the raciaal, religious and age walls and through the internet connections the spirit of 1Malaysia could be promoted and internalised particularly among the younger generation as Malaysians below 40 are the most active in the Online world.
My presence on that day gave me more insights of the PM as a person and CEO of the country. He was relax and mixed freely with the crowd, obliging with practically every request to autograph his book 'Inheriting & Legacy - Fast Tracking Change'.
Responding to the questions posed by the participants during the dialogue session, it emerged that YAB DSN finds time to read, and as he put it 'each one of us has to allocate some time daily for intellectual input i.e time to to think, time to reflect, time to read'. Among others he has read books on lateral thinking by Edward de Bono and books by Friedman. Incidentally, I share the same interest in books by the same authors.
On the political front, he went to elaborate on the 1Malaysia concept, which emphasises NATIONAL UNITY which ensures political stability and the priority to serve the rakyat (RAKYAT DI DAHULUKAN) and that the Govt must be responsive and result-oriented (PENCAPAIAN DIUTAMAKAN). He is committed to see economic growth target of six percent for 2010 by enhancing the government administrative machinery, encouraging foreign investment and finally through competitiveness and productivity. The government has also taken steps to improve security and reduce crime rate and among the measures to be taken is the identification of the 50 crime hotspots. Among the fight against corruption government procureement are handled by open bidding.
Having heard from the PM on the commitments to restore some of the critical ills of the country - corruption, security, economy, politic- to be implemented by someone who follows what is happening in the world through reading; a healthy person as YAB DSN gives importance to regular exercises; disiplined with the heart to see the rakyat being served; I came out of the gathering feeling that the country is indeed in good hands. I feel that YAB DSN has the capacity and capability to harness the people to transform Malaysia into a UNITED, STRONG & DYNAMIC country.