Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak says he tweets himself to interact with his online friends via Twitter.

Najib said he had been spending more time on Twitter - in the car and between appointments, before and after work - replying to Malaysians and engaging them in conversation.

“Yes, it is really me replying to your tweets,” he said in his latest posting on www.1malaysia.com.

Najib stressed that it was important for him to ensure that his interactions with his online friends remained meaningful, as the number of online friends continued to grow on Facebook, Twitter and on his website.

“Although my work schedule gets quite hectic, I assure you that these simple connections mean a great deal to me,” he said.

Najib said he was also looking forward to more meaningful connections with his online friends during a gathering at Seri Perdana on Sunday.

“This Sunday, at the gathering in Seri Perdana, I hope to make more meaningful connections with a few hundred friends who have until now only interacted with me online.

“Insya-Allah (God willing), we will be able to have a good tea-time session this weekend to make up for the time lost,” he said.

The upcoming gathering was initially planned for November last year but was postponed after the prime minister came down with chickenpox.

Upcoming gathering to be streamed live

Najib said the event would also be streamed live through his blog to allow others who could not attend to be virtually there.

“Now, although you can’t be there in person, you will be able to watch the event, including the dialogue session,” he said, adding that more details on how to watch the event live would be shared via Facebook and Twitter in the next few days.

Najib gave the assurance that there would still be other opportunities for him and the people to meet as he plans to host such events again soon, adding that new dates would be announced on his website.

He also invited his online friends to sign up for “Mari Berjumpa Mari Berhubung” so that they could meet somewhere a little closer to their neighbourhood.

“I’m quite excited to meet as many of you as possible and making more connections with my fellow Malaysians,” he said.

- Bernama