"Please, Don't Do That" – Anwar Doesn't Want People Calling Him 'Papa'
Please, just don't.
By Jasmine Chea — 06 Dec 2022, 06:49 PM
Whatever you do, don't call Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim 'papa' because the Malaysian premier has made it very clear he doesn't like such nicknames
In a public service announcement (PSA) posted on Twitter today, 6 December, Anwar, the prime minister, who also holds the Ministry of Finance portfolio, spoke about abolishing the old culture of high-ranking politicians hoarding the wealth of the nation.
He also emphasised that policies must be made based on the rights and best interests of the citizens.
Despite the severity of the topic, a cheeky Twitter user decided to drop in and reply to Anwar's PSA
The user said, "Good morning, papa."
In short, Anwar did not appreciate the greeting and told the Twitter user to, "Please, don't do that."
Anwar's tweet has since gone viral and has garnered nearly 14,000 retweets and 22,600 likes at the time of writing
For context, former prime ministers of Malaysia were given paternal nicknames, therefore, Anwar possibly does not want to be associated with monikers of similar nature
Eighth premier of Malaysia Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin referred to himself as "Abah", a play on the term "father" in Malay.
Muhyiddin continued to utilise the nickname during his campaign for the 15th General Election (GE15).
Furthermore, ninth prime minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was also dubbed paternal nicknames, "Pak Long" or "Tok Mail". Both nicknames are usually reserved for the oldest uncle in a family.
Ismail Sabri was given the nicknames due to his administration theme "Keluarga Malaysia".
