Dinner with PM Najib

I am privileged to be 1 out of the 30 to be chosen for the PM dinner @ Ritz Carlton on Friday the 13th 2009. Ha.

At first I thought it was a prank call when the High commission staff called me the last Saturday prior to the event. Ha.

So it’s real. I am attending a dinner hosted by Malaysia PM and his wife! Whoohoo… dress code is batik/causal for men and appropriate dress for ladies! I do dress up accordingly. Hehe..

Thanks to the stupid 502, I rushed my way to Ritz on my BMW and guess what, I arrived at the same time as PM and distinguished guests walked out from the lift. It was a sit down western dinner. Ribeye, yeah! And the chocolate brulee is yummy too!

Once seated, the guests started to exchange their namecards. Duh, I forgot to take mine from office, so I ended up having 5 name cards to be given away. Ha. Interesting scene, a time for Malaysia to network. According to many, different industries professionals were invited. I am quite sure I am not the only one who represented engineering field.

Let me comment on the dressing, some really bother to dress up while a few really turned people off. Since this is a special event, aren’t you supposed to wear dress and at least put up a light make up? This is to show respect to the organizer lo. Duh…

Talking about the short yet sweet speech by the YAB. Ha. 3 important points which I captured.
1. Malaysian government appreciate and proud of the Malaysian working in overseas. They do hope that they can contninue to represent Malaysia and speak for the country. In short, be the ambassador. As Malaysia hope to attract more FDI and brains, he hopes that we can go home one day when she needs us. He also understand that fact that Malaysia can’t afford us (the professional), so he appeal that we continue to excel in our respective fields

2. If you’re still a Malaysian (of course I am! Else I won’t get invited. Haha), and if you’re still a voter, don’t forget about his team when it comes to election. Everyone LOL.

3. Don’t judge a politician by his deeds and words when he is not in the office. Simple message. We all laughed about it! Unsure if he is referring to the former PM? I am not sure. YAB PM said he stood by his words and together with his colleagues, he will stand by what they say and do. So try to assess and judge them by their deliverables.

A rather short speech but it carries lots of hidden message. To be honest, I am quite impressed :)

A few of us took pictures with him and wife but it is with the official photographers. Maybe our photos may be shown in the nation wide newspaper. Who knows? RTM was there to shoot the event. Ha.

What a surprise dinner with the YAB!