Impromptu karaoke session cheered on by supporters.
Hundreds of his supporters today turned up at a popular hypermarket in Sandakan and cheered Najib Razak as he made his rounds canvassing for the Parti Bersatu Sabah candidate.
Dressed in a dark blue short-sleeved shirt, the 65-year-old landed at the Sandakan airport at around 1.45pm.
It was his first visit to Sabah since Barisan Nasional’s defeat in the 14th general election.
He arrived at Giant Hypermarket in a black Land Cruiser and the moment his car stopped in front of the entrance and he rolled down his window, the crowd began chanting his moniker, “Bossku”.
The chanting did not abate as he exited the car, upon which he was immediately mobbed by the euphoric crowd seeking to take selfies with him, shake his hand and even hug him as he moved towards the hypermarket.
The excited crowd, still chanting “Bossku”, followed him throughout as he walked around Giant, examining the price of eggs, fish, and oil, among others.
He did some shopping, buying rice, oil, eggs and sweets, as the crowd swarmed around him asking for selfies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61mnWnzVU5Q
When he came out of the hypermarket, he joined the Sabah Umno live band stationed near the Ramadan bazaar at the hypermarket parking lot.
The former premier sang two songs, the popular Tanak Kampung by Sabahan Jimmy Palikat and The Young Ones by Cliff Richard, together with Sabah Umno chairperson Bung Moktar Radin.
He spent an hour mingling with his supporters and gave a short speech.
“Sandakan, Bossku sudah sampai (Sandakan, Bossku has arrived),” he shouted through the PA system.
“Some people said I would not come, but my personal policy is that if people invite me, I will definitely come.”
Commenting on the presence of some 300 supporters, Najib said it showed the people remembered and valued everything he had done during his time as the prime minister.
“At least they are confident in my struggle and my friends in BN and those who support BN,” he said.
“I am not here because of my confidence that my presence will swing votes to PBS. I just want to show I still care about the people in Sandakan and Sabah.
“They have been very close to me and when there was an invitation for me to come and support, I wanted to do my bit.”
Najib hoped tomorrow’s Sandakan by-election will be a fair fight between the candidates.
He said the results will reflect how the people feel about the ruling government.
He said it was a good opportunity for the people to tell the government what they think about the current policies, one year after the change of government at the state and federal levels.