he did it again

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
the Vice President and Prime Minister
and Minister of Defence of the UAE
and Ruler of Dubai
did it again

well..
memang selalu dah dia buat surprises sebegini
among others were this, this and this

however
last weekend (Friday and Saturday)
he had set a new 'benchmark'

he went to Fujairah
(a nothern and not-so-urbanised emirate of the UAE)
and 'brought along' his members of cabinet

pada pagi Jumaat
a cabinet meeting in an informal setting


lepas tu.. tengaharinya
sembahyang jumaat di masjid berhampiran

he just sat in the middle section of the masjid
unlike our Raja, Sultan, PM, Menteris and VVIPs in Malaysia
yang selalunya pasti akan 'disediakan' saf paling depan sekali

lepas solat tu.. dengan tiba-tiba
salah seorang penduduk tempatan kawasan situ
telah mengajak beliau untuk makan tengahari di rumah beliau

and he accepted the invitation
together with most of the ministers

next, lepas habis makan
dengan tak disangka-sangka beliau mengumumkan agar
anak-anak tuan rumah (yang dah berkahwin) yang jemput dia tadi
diberikan/dihadiahkan sebuah rumah setiap seorang
dengan biayaan beliau sendiri

perghhhh....

seterusnya.. petang tu
sambung meeting

esok pagi dan tengaharinya
melawat kawasan sekitar kampung

petangnya
sebagai penutup dan sebelum balik ke Dubai
mandi-manda bersama some ministers

hehe..

these events, beyond reasonable doubts
had further uplifted his good image
in the eyes of the people living in the UAE
regardless whether it was a genuine day-to-day practice
or just another excellent public relations stunt

anyway..
a fellow Malaysian
cynically joking around by quoting
"our PMs pernah ke buat gini?"

i just simply replied by saying
"pernah! dan pasti akan buat lagi
bila? tunggu le musim pilihanraya"

:)