Najib trades suit for hoodie

It was a light-hearted moment at the Wild Digital Conference when Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak traded his suit for a hoodie and shared his passion for music, food and social media.

Some 450 of Southeast Asia’s leading digital entrepreneurs, investors and top senior executives had a pleasant surprise when the Prime Minister readily agreed to don a hoodie with the words ‘#DABOSS’ on the back.

Catcha Group’s co-founder Patrick Grove presented the hoodie to Najib on stage before the start of a 40-minute question and answer session to mark the launch of the conference.

Grove, the chairman of Iflix, candidly threw questions to Najib including if he bought anything online lately.

“Yes I bought some music from iTunes but I’m not going to tell you what songs they are,” Najib said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Najib went on to say that he enjoyed ‘Motown’ and music from the 1970s but also like to listen to contemporary singers such as Bruno Mars.

Grove, who kept the pace of questions lively, asked Najib of his experiences of getting a drive with US president Barack Obama in his personal limousine the ‘Beast’ and meeting Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.

“I was told that apart from his wife, the only two persons who ever rode in the Beast with Obama was you and Jerry Seinfeld,” Grove said.

Najib quipped that the "Beast" was more comfortable than a Proton and bullet and bomb-proof car had room to hold a conference for four people.

On his experience with Zuckerberg during his trip to the United States, Najib jokingly said that he thought that Zuckerberg didn’t look very smart in his appearance owing the casual style of dressing and work pace of those working in the IT industry there.

“My initial reaction, he doesn’t look very smart. But actually, he is very smart. He is super smart but doesn’t look very smart.

“But when you talk to him, you begin to realise that this guy (Zuckerberg) has really got it in him,” Najib said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Grove also quipped that Najib beat Obama, British prime minister David Cameron and Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong in tweeting, although a lot of it were about food.

Najib replied that although he had a media team to handle his social media posting, he would personally tweet if time permits.
Grove later invited Najib to pose for a selfie with the crowd. Najib later tweeted: ‘Rocking at Wild Digital @PatrickGrove in my new hoodie #daboss #boom’.