YOURSAY ‘Najib, your people should take precedence over the US president.’

PM says tee off with Obama 'golf diplomacy'

SusahKes: PM Najib Razak has a reputation for being an absentee PM; even his own party members have criticised him.

Call it bad timing, call it bad planning - the PM should have anticipated that floods will hit us this time of the year.

Instead of flying off for a vacation, he should have stayed through to ensure that disaster relief is well handled during the monsoon.

Some people never learn from past mistakes and obviously Najib failed to learn what happened to his predecessor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, when he made a similar mistake in 2007. It was downhill from there onwards.

I doubt too, that Najib would learn from Abdullah being push out of office; I believe Najib has stepped into his political land of no return. The damage has not only been done, it's fatal to his political career.

No amount of time spent with Obama would save Najib from this major misstep, in a premiership that is already laden with so many guffaws and flip-flopping. 

WDA: Mr PM, please get your priorities right. Golf and diplomacy should take a back seat when your people are in dire straits. Your people should take precedence over the US president.

Anonymous_4056: Mr PM, using a game of golf as a diplomatic thrush is not an issue. But doing it during time of severe floods when more than one hundred thousand residents are displaced is not exactly the right thing to do.

You did not want or intend to return home until a national uproar was in the making otherwise you would have ignored our plight and continue your blissful holiday.

Mushiro: I bet the total damage due to the floods may run to a few billion ringgits.

Najib talked about insurance, he talked about the need for banks to reschedule loan repayments for the flood victims and he talked about expediting BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia). This is to reduce the burden on the people.

What about postponing GST (Goods and Services Tax) which is scheduled to start in April 2015? GST will be a big burden on these flood victims.

Tapau 1Malaysia: There you go. The spin has started. Only 47 percent of the people will buy your story, Najib, or probably much less now as many among them are flood victims whom you didn't care much for.

Golf diplomacy or otherwise, you haven't explained why you had sneaked out of the country and not wanting the people to know about your escapade.

Did I hear your meeting with US President Barack Obama was supposed to be highly confidential? And that was why it has to be on the golf course?

I believe Obama himself must be amused. You are now giving all these excuses because you have been caught with your pants down.

The Hawaii 'expose' has been a PR disaster for you. It has undoubtedly become untenable for you to remain as PM.

Since you trust DPM Muhyiddin Yassin so much in running the country during a crisis like this, why not you allow him to take over?

Anyway, you have overstayed your welcome, Najib. After having worked so hard this whole year, it is time you take a deserved long break.

Progressive: Partisan politics aside. How often does the prime minister of a developing country be given a chance to golf with the president of the United States of America.

This is a big honour for the country and is indeed "golf diplomacy" as our PM had indicated. We Malaysians should support all and every effort that enhances our country's best interest even though they are made by people we consider "enemies".

The nation comes first. Politics second. PM has done the nation proud by having this golfing diplomacy with Obama. It's to be lauded.

Equatorial Man: Those who have interacted with Americans may possibly see how this came about.

During his visit in April 2014, Obama may have said casually something typically American like, "If you ever drop by Hawaii, you may like to look me up for a game of golf."

I suspected that he must be quite surprised that the "invitation" was eagerly taken up and so quickly.

Vijay47: I can just imagine the conversation:

"Hey Obie my man! What you doin', dude? This Najib. I’m in Honolulu right now. You still up for that game of golf?” 

“Najib, yeah, Najib... the guy with the pink lips. Jibby, my hommie! That's great, man. I was just wonderin' to Michelle this morning whatever happened to that guy near Singapore. Golf?  No’rries, man, as that guy in Canberra would say, anything for you, pardner. I don’t have anything big goin’ on the next coupl’a’days, just a joint session of Congress, a Budget meeting with the Fed, and another meeting with the NSC - we need to sort out that short Korean guy for what he did to Sony even though it is a Japanese company. Yeah, golf is fine; we could also do a couple of dogs and maybe a few Buds. How is ...er...er...er... how is your wife doin’?”

Not Convinced: What Malaysia needs is a prime minister who can take charge of this country, not an Obama groupie.

Golf takes the back seat in times of crisis

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