Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's advisers should learn from those who advise Dr Mahathir Mohamad who is not afraid of meeting the public.

Khairul Anwar Rahmat, the organiser of the botched Nothing2Hide forum in June, said this in connection with Mahathir's talk in Pasir Gudang, Johor this Saturday.

"Some of Najib's advisers who stopped him at the last minute from attending the Nothing2Hide dialogue in PWTC have to learn from the maturity of those advising Mahathir, who is brave enough to face the public.

"Mahathir's appearance in Pasir Gudang this Saturday can be described as ‘the return of Nothing2Hide’.

"The warrior spirit and nobleness to face the public, proves that a leader does not run away from responsibility," he added in a statement today.

The former Johor Umno Youth vice-chief's dialogue in June had been called off at the last minute after police declared it unsafe.

Najib has continuously been ridiculed for not turning up, just a day after he invoked his heritage and boasted that Bugis warriors do not surrender.

Commenting on this, Khairul Anwar said the people still want to hear from the leaders themselves about various problems plaguing the country, such as 1MDB, GST and the falling ringgit.

He added the people also want a talk based on knowledge, not emotions and shallow sentiments.

Mahathir will be speaking at the Stadium Tertutup Majlis Perbandaran Pasir Gudang at the same time the Bersih 4 rally participants are expected to start gathering in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.

It is expected that Mahathir will still be able to pull in a strong crowd, and outperform Najib's last appearance in Pasir Gudang, where Umno delegates gave the prime minister's speech a limp response.