NEW DELHI: Diplomatic engagements usually come with prepared speeches, rehearsed phrases and protocol. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim added a more unexpected element to his India visit — a Kishore Kumar song.
While attending the BRICS summit in New Delhi last week, Ibrahim was passing through the lobby of the Le Meridien hotel on September 12 when pianist Mujeeb ur Rehman began playing. Hotel management had told Rehman that the Malaysian leader might pass by and enjoyed Hindi music.
Rehman had learnt that Ibrahim liked two old Hindi favourites — Mukesh’s Dost Dost Na Raha and Kishore Kumar’s Khwab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat. When he spotted Ibrahim approaching, he began playing the first song, a little louder than usual.
Ibrahim stopped, smiled and unexpectedly began singing along. He then asked for Khwab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat. The moment later became one of the lighter highlights of his India visit. Ibrahim shared a video of the performance, in which Rehman played the piano as he sang, and it went viral on social media.
Music has long offered a more personal glimpse into Ibrahim’s connection with India. His fondness for Hindi cinema and Indian music has been spoken about in the past. The hotel-lobby performance was seen as a continuation of his habit of bringing popular culture into formal engagements.
The same informal approach was visible when Ibrahim took the stage at Markaz in Kozhikode, in northern Kerala, a state with longstanding ties to Malaysia. After his initial greetings, he used a casual Malayalam icebreaker: “Entha varthanam,?” asking, “What's up.?”
The crowd cheered at the gesture. Ibrahim highlighted South India’s role in shaping the Malaysian diaspora and said he was also looking at visiting Tamil Nadu.
“But since Chief Minister Vijay is currently overseas, I thought I would postpone that visit and give Kerala my full attention for now,” he quipped.
Ibrahim also shared a lighthearted story with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about keeping promises. He said that when he got married, he had promised his wife that he would take her to see the Taj Mahal. However, it took him 40 years to fulfil the promise and bring her to the monument.
The episode offered a glimpse of the personality of a leader who was born on August 10, 1947, in Cherok Tok Kun, Penang, and entered public life before joining government.
Ibrahim studied at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar and later the University of Malaya, where he became active in student movements. In the 1970s, he helped establish youth and Islamic organisations, including the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement.
He joined mainstream politics in 1982 and served as minister for culture, youth and sports, agriculture, education and finance before becoming deputy prime minister in 1993.
His political journey later took him through government, opposition politics and prison following a political rupture in the late 1990s. He subsequently served as opposition leader before becoming prime minister.
On November 24, 2022, at the age of 75, Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister.
