Embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak has decided not to shut down his Facebook page which has been attacked by fed-up netizens postingDiam Lah or Shaddup in protest of his political doubespeak.
But lest Malaysians think their PM is changing his spots, his critics say he has no choice.
"To close down be infinitely more shameful," Eddie Wong, a PKR veteran, told Malaysia Chronicle.
It does appear that is the tack Najib is taking - to put on a good face although the turn of events must have embarrassed him deeply. But even so, on Friday, he could not resist boasting that as far as he was concerned, his 'popularity' remained intact.
"Over the past weeks, there has been serious abuse of my online communication platforms, most noticeably on Facebook," he said in his latest blog posting.
"As it stands, I have over 800,000 Facebook 'likes' and close to 170,000 followers on Twitter. Even at the time of writing, I observe that more Malaysians have stepped up in support of civil dialogue and posting constructive comments. Do keep it up."
Don't deprive other Malaysians
He added that it was not fair to deny Malaysians the opportunity to interact with him because of the irresponsible acts of a few.
"I hope we as Malaysians can demonstrate responsible, respectful behaviour while commenting online," said the PM.
Eralier this week, netizens did not hesitate to show their frustration by going into his Facebook wall and posting the comment "Diam lah", which is Malay for "Shaddup".
The first Shaddup posting came around midnight on Tuesday after Najib's page administrators published his reflections on leadership and peace in the country.
In the runup to the July 9 Bersih rally for free and fair elections, Najib had ordered an unprecedent police crackdown on civil society arresting nearly 2,000 people. His bizarre actions in a bid to stamp his authority on the people have made him of one the most unpopular premiers since Malaysia became independent from British rule in 1957.
It sparked a wave of followers as other fed-up Malaysians began to tell the PM to keep quiet all over his Facebook wall. Some were so vehement they even used large-sized fonts to express their emotions.
A 'Diam lar!' page has since been set up, and up to present time 11,312 likes have been registered.
