GEORGE TOWN: After being treated like a celebrity at election campaigns in Johor and Melaka, former prime minister Najib Razak has received a rousing welcome in Penang, a state where he had been booed during the 2013 general election campaign.
He opened an investment summit on Friday, rubbed shoulders with Chinese community clan leaders, and conducted walkabouts at a clan jetty, a popular food court and at a night market.
Najib received red-carpet treatment and was mobbed by large crowds at most events. However, in Bukit Mertajam on the mainland, a group of DAP Youth members carried out a brief protest, which was broken up by police.
In his keynote address at the investment summit, Najib had said the Chinese community is hungry for a change, after poor management by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government which has been in power since 2008.
“If Malaysians restore a strong multiracial Barisan Nasional (BN) government with a solid majority, with our proven track record I can guarantee that the share market will boom once again, foreign investors will knock on our doors, and the good times will come back,” he said.
He later met clan leaders at the Penang Chinese Clan Council, an influential local Chinese grouping often regarded as a bellwether of the state’s Chinese political support.
He was given a red carpet treatment there, with a lion dance ceremony welcoming him. Zhang clan chief Chang Wei Lu called him the friendliest prime minister to the Chinese since independence.
Najib then headed to Insadunia food court in Bukit Mertajam, a local mainstay. Prior to his arrival, members of DAP Youth displayed a banner which read “Bossku Kemaluan Negara”. They said an MP should not skip Parliament and claimed Najib was not welcome because of his conviction on corruption charges.
An organiser of a luncheon for Najib screamed at them to leave, at one point shoving a DAP man. Police ordered the two men to stop arguing and both dispersed without much incident.
The protest did not hamper the spirits of those waiting for Najib as he arrived minutes later in a 11-car entourage, dressed in a pink baju Melayu after Friday prayers. A lion dance and chingay troupe sprang into action amid a large crowd screaming “Bossku”.
“This is an organic crowd we have here, not some people brought from somewhere else,” he said to about 300 people.
Najib then headed to Weld Quay in George Town to visit the Chew Jetty and was feted by the clan jetty committee that invited him there. He told the crowd he was impressed by the turnout, given it was a workday.
He received applause when he said: “I crossed the bridge, but I had to pay the toll,” in reference to PH that they would remove bridge tolls when they came into power.
Later, he visited the popular pasar malam at Van Praagh Road where he also received a rousing welcome by shoppers there. He was later joined by some Umno, MCA and MIC members at an open space at Taman Kheng Tian. A coffee shop owner nearby decided to give free drinks to “Bossku” supporters; he said he was doing so because he did very well when Najib was prime minister.
This morning, Najib met Penang Umno leaders, where he held a few hours of talks with party bigwigs. He told reporters the Chinese mood has changed and appeared to favour BN.- FMT
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