Najib resurrects 'nambikei' yet again, on Tamil New Year eve

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Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has resurrected his oft repeated call to Malaysians of Indian descent to rejoice in the spirit of "nambikei", the Tamil word for trust, and rise to new heights with the BN government that he leads.

"We must always remember that we are in this journey together and whatever that comes our way, we will overcome it with the strengthened “nambikei” or trust we have established over the last seven years," Najib said in a posting on his official blog.

His missive comes as Indian Malaysians are ushering in their respective New Year celebrations, with the Tamil and Malayali communities celebrating “Chitirai Putthandu” and “Vishu” today, and the Sikh community marking the birth of “Khalsa” with the “Vaisakhi” celebration yesterday.

Noting that the New Year is the time to reflect on past journeys and celebrate new beginnings, as well as opportunities with hope, Najib said he wants to have more engagements with the Indian communities.

"I want to know more of your inspiring achievements so that, together, we can help to shape a better and brighter future for all those in the community who still need our assistance," he said in the post.

Najib also used the analogy of his meeting with S Prakash, a successful Indian entrepreneur whom he met last week. Despite his disabilities, Prakash has been able to further his studies to the doctorate level and is successful in his training and motivation business.

Extolling Prakash's very positive attitude to life inspired by the quote “when one door closes, another door opens”, Najib noted that many in the community too face hardships and obstacles in their pursuit for a happier and better living standard for the current and future generations.

Stand together with the BN

These are challenges he said even Malaysia as a nation is not spared from and this was also why the Indian community should stand together in 'nambikei' with the BN-led government.

The term ‘nambikei’ was first used by Najib in the run-up to the 13th general election to call for Indian support for BN. This was done at the 2012 Thaipusam celebration at Batu Caves in Selangor.

Since then, 'nambikei' has been oft-repeated by the prime minister at celebrations and by-elections where Indians are involved.

'Nambikei' has been credited by some observers as being the campaign that won back the goodwill of Indian voters by a smiling prime minister, who often comes bearing gifts for the community when he utters the word.

Though critics say that it is all just smooth talk, bribery and stage play to hide blatant bribery for electoral favours, some see the sweet words offered with Najib's 'nambikei' to be only as good as the easily breakable tembikai, which is watermelon in Malay, citing the numerous unfulfilled promises of the BN to the Indian community.

Some have also equated 'nambikei' with the"'you help me, I help you" speech Najib once gave to the Chinese community in Sibu.



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