Najib makes cameo appearance on THR Raaga

In attempt to reach out to the Indian community, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak made a cameo appearance on Tamil language radio station THR Raaga this morning.

“Believe in the government. We have proven ourselves in the past three years. We are sincere. Trust in us,” he said at the end of an hour-long casual interview on the station’s breakfast show Kalakkal Kaalai.

Najib told the programme, which runs from 6am to 10am on weekdays, that he wooed listener with his grasp of Tamil words such as “nambikei” (trust), “Ore Malaysia” (1Malaysia) and “acchamillai” (no fear).

Najib spoke about the efforts taken by the government under his leadership to improve facilities offered to the minority community including allocation for Tamil schools, increased spots in matriculation programmes for Indian students and scholarships for Indian students to pursue their studies at the Master’s and PhD levels.

He also participated in a series of light-hearted slots like a football quiz, where he faced off with resident deejay Uthaya, posed questions to those who participated in the battle of sexes and took questions from listeners on how he manages the challenges faced daily as a prime minister.

Asked if he had a favourite Tamil song, Najib said he has developed a liking for the catchy ‘Why this Kolaveri di?’ (why the murderous rage girl) form the movie ‘3'.

“I heard Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also likes the song,” said Najib.

As the end of the interview, when asked on his vision for the Indian community, he said: “Like all Malaysians, I want the community to progress and be fully integrated into the country’s economic transformation.”

The upbeat radio station caters to those aged 18 to 40 and features an array of entertainment programmes.