Malaysians can now join the ruling party Umno by text message, an initiative the 60-year-old party hopes will encourage more young people to sign up, a report said today.

The United Malays National Organisation, which celebrated its founding earlier this month, has headed the ruling coalition since Malaysia's independence from Britain in 1957.

"The time has come for Umno to move ahead and have a system that everyone is using," its secretary-general Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said at a launch ceremony, according to the Star daily.

Radzi said he hoped the SMS system, which members can also use to check on party activities, would attract young people to join the party.