It is the first day of the fasting month, and both Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Dr Mahathir Mohamad visited two separate Ramadan bazaars.
According to the photographs and comments posted on social media, it appears the pair also received different receptions.
Najib tweeted a photograph of himself in front of an ayam percik stall in Putrajaya. The prime minister looked tired and seemed to have shed a few kilos as well.
There were no shots of meeting the people or posing for photographs.
And as expected, the brickbats followed.
One user, @adzimsoki 2h2 hours ago said: "Saya pilih Maggi mee ja... sbb nak bayar GST, nak tlg DS bayar hutang 1MDB (I choose Maggi mee because have to pay GST, want to help you settle 1MDB's debts)".
Whereas @azyshm remarked, "Kami tak pergi bazaar pun PM, kami just makan nasik goreng Dato Maslan je, dengar cerita 'No GST' saving sikit (We did not go to the bazaar, we are just eating ‘nasi goreng’ Dato Maslan, we heard there is no GST).”
This was a jibe at Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan, who has been promoting his recipe for a goods and services tax-free fried rice.
Ahmad Maslan himself has been courting flak over his latest posting, where he suggested that Muslims break fast with 'NGAM' - Nasi Goreng Ahmad Maslan tanpa GST.
Mahathir reels in the crowd
Meanwhile, some 40km from the administrative capital, Mahathir was strolling about at the Ramadan bazaar in Kampung Baru.
Photographs posted on the Kelab Che Det Facebook fanpage showed the 89-year-old former premier cutting a picture of health mingling with the crowd, and posing for selfies with other patrons.
It stated that when TV3 approached Mahathir at the bazaar, the former premier smiled and remarked with sarcasm, "Haa TV3..."
This is due to the television station having been accused of embarking on a mission to taint his legacy, where it ran down national carmaker Proton for three consecutive nights on its news segment.
Another posting noted how Mahathir appealed to people of all ages, claiming that a school student approached the former premier and said, "Tun berhenti berhenti, boleh tak saya nak tangkap gambar dengan Tun...... (Please stop, I want to take a photo with you)."
Even national news agency Bernama acknowledged that Mahathir was a "crowd puller".
"They crowded around the former prime minister to take 'selfies' and to greet him.
"Dressed in a white shirt, the statesman appeared to be ever smiling and ready to please members of the public who wished to shake his hands and take photographs with him," read the report.
On the contrary, Bernama's take on Najib's visit to the Ramadan bazaar, however, was rather sober.
After launching the bazaar, it said the prime minister spent about 30 minutes touring some of the stalls and then bought two jugs of sugarcane juice and a chicken 'murtabak'.
Sugarcane juice stallholder Mohd Asri Jamaluddin, 35, was excited that the prime minister had bought the drink from him.
"I did not think that the prime minister will come to my stall and buy the drink himself," said the stallholder, who incidentally hails from Najib's homestate of Pahang.
According to the photographs and comments posted on social media, it appears the pair also received different receptions.
Najib tweeted a photograph of himself in front of an ayam percik stall in Putrajaya. The prime minister looked tired and seemed to have shed a few kilos as well.There were no shots of meeting the people or posing for photographs.
And as expected, the brickbats followed.
One user, @adzimsoki 2h2 hours ago said: "Saya pilih Maggi mee ja... sbb nak bayar GST, nak tlg DS bayar hutang 1MDB (I choose Maggi mee because have to pay GST, want to help you settle 1MDB's debts)".
Whereas @azyshm remarked, "Kami tak pergi bazaar pun PM, kami just makan nasik goreng Dato Maslan je, dengar cerita 'No GST' saving sikit (We did not go to the bazaar, we are just eating ‘nasi goreng’ Dato Maslan, we heard there is no GST).”
This was a jibe at Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan, who has been promoting his recipe for a goods and services tax-free fried rice.Ahmad Maslan himself has been courting flak over his latest posting, where he suggested that Muslims break fast with 'NGAM' - Nasi Goreng Ahmad Maslan tanpa GST.
Mahathir reels in the crowd
Meanwhile, some 40km from the administrative capital, Mahathir was strolling about at the Ramadan bazaar in Kampung Baru.
Photographs posted on the Kelab Che Det Facebook fanpage showed the 89-year-old former premier cutting a picture of health mingling with the crowd, and posing for selfies with other patrons.
It stated that when TV3 approached Mahathir at the bazaar, the former premier smiled and remarked with sarcasm, "Haa TV3..."This is due to the television station having been accused of embarking on a mission to taint his legacy, where it ran down national carmaker Proton for three consecutive nights on its news segment.
Another posting noted how Mahathir appealed to people of all ages, claiming that a school student approached the former premier and said, "Tun berhenti berhenti, boleh tak saya nak tangkap gambar dengan Tun...... (Please stop, I want to take a photo with you)."
Even national news agency Bernama acknowledged that Mahathir was a "crowd puller".
"They crowded around the former prime minister to take 'selfies' and to greet him.
"Dressed in a white shirt, the statesman appeared to be ever smiling and ready to please members of the public who wished to shake his hands and take photographs with him," read the report.On the contrary, Bernama's take on Najib's visit to the Ramadan bazaar, however, was rather sober.
After launching the bazaar, it said the prime minister spent about 30 minutes touring some of the stalls and then bought two jugs of sugarcane juice and a chicken 'murtabak'.
Sugarcane juice stallholder Mohd Asri Jamaluddin, 35, was excited that the prime minister had bought the drink from him.
"I did not think that the prime minister will come to my stall and buy the drink himself," said the stallholder, who incidentally hails from Najib's homestate of Pahang.
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