Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has heaped praise on veteran singer Sheila Majid and other celebrities for speaking out on the state of the country.
Retweeting her comment on Twitter, Mahathir said: "One by one, Malaysian icons speak up for the future of the country.
"From (actress) Nur Fathia Abdul Latiff, Aznil Nawawi and now Sheila Majid.
"The youths, in particular, must have the courage to step up. The future is in your hands. If not us, who else?" Mahathir said, using his Twitter handle @chedetofficial.
Satu per satu ikon Malaysia bersuara demi masa depan negara. Dari @fatiyalatiff , @aznilnawawiHM dan sekarang Sheila Majid. Anak muda khususnya kena berani kehadapan.
— Dr Mahathir Mohamad (@chedetofficial) December 5, 2017
Masa depan terletak di tangan anda. Kalau bukan kita, siapa lagi?
Terima kasih @SheilaMajid https://t.co/xDv0t0EUeA
Earlier today, Sheila had weighed in on the state of the country's economy, claiming that Malaysians were "tired and angry" at being squeezed.
"Food is expensive, the ringgit is weak, cost of living is high and jobs are scarce. Malaysians are becoming tired and angry for being squeezed over debts we did not create.
"Stop making excuses and looking for faults. Focus on the job of getting our country back on track," she said on Twitter.
Sheila's comment elicited mixed reactions from other Twitter users.
Food is expensive, ringgit is weak,cost of living is high & jobs are scarce.Msians are becoming tired & angry for being squeezed over debts we did not create.Stop making excuses & looking for faults.Focus on the job of getting our country back on track! 🇲🇾 Disappointing!!
— Sheila Majid (@SheilaMajid) December 5, 2017
"We need more of this from our celebrities. Please voice out your concerns. Don't keep quiet and (be) afraid of (a) ban," said Twitter user @kamalazizKinG.
Another Twitter user @ppu_return said: This is (Prime Minister) Najib's era, the era of openness. Not @chedetofficial's era where artistes were silenced."
Sheila's tweet received 2,848 likes and 4,816 retweets at the time of writing.
