aaadooi!..hanya berita

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 —Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak went on a humour offensive last night as he sought to win over potential investors from around the world who had gathered for the annual Forbes CEO Conference here.

Najib showed that apart from his political acumen, he was no slouch either when it came to comedy delivery as he bantered with Forbes magazine CEO and editor-in-chief Steve Forbes in an open dialogue.

Forbes had kicked off the conversation by asking what is the prime minister's stand on Malaysian English versus American English.

"We speak English but we also understand American," replied Najib to much laughter and clapping.

Encouraged, Najib further warmed the crowd by cracking a joke.

"Three Malaysians were sitting down having a fireside chat like we are doing now. And one them was complaining about his wife not being able to have children," Najib started.

"The first Malaysian said: Your wife is inconceivable." Soft laughter from the audience.

"The second Malaysian said: You're wrong. You should say that his wife is impregnable." More chuckles.

"Then the third man said: Both of you are wrong. Actually, my wife is unbearable!" The audience roars.

"No reference to my wife," Najib added after the laughter died down.

Najib did misjudge his audience towards the end of the night however when a political joke was met with a puzzled silence.

Asked by one conference delegate what Najib was going to do to support an upcoming conference on the environment, he replied:

"One of the first acts I did was create a Ministry of Green Technology. I've said before that technologically we must be green. Politically we must remain blue."

The dialogue's more serious moments was a chance for Najib to showcase his plans for Malaysia in a bid to put the country on the radar screen of investors.

He said the country needs to be more competitive and escape from the "middle-income trap" and that he wants to transform "a low-wage and somewhat low-productivity" economy into a developed and high-income one.

The night was a rare occasion where Najib did not mention "1 Malaysia" but he did say that he wanted to create a system that will motivate Malaysians to "produce at higher levels" and that will also "unleash the talents of all Malaysians so that all will feel they have a place under the Malaysian sun."

These are topics Malaysians will be taking seriously despite the lighthearted moments of the night, and they will be watching Najib closely to see if his economic delivery skills are as good as his comedic ones.