Salleh casts doubt on ‘Time’ article

KUALA LUMPUR: A minister has questioned the accuracy of a recent article published by Time magazine, which named Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as one of five world leaders “less popular” than United States President Donald Trump.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said the article, which was published on Time’s website on Tuesday, had failed to provide any data to support its claim.

“How did Time conduct this opinion poll? How many respondents were polled and where do these respondents live?

“Is Time saying that Najib and the other four world leaders are less popular than Trump in Terengganu and Kelantan, or in New York City?” Salleh said in a blog post yesterday.

Salleh said perception alone was not an accurate yardstick to determine a person’s popularity.

“Hillary Clinton is supposed to be more popular than Donald Trump, and even (former) president Obama supported her, but still Trump won the presidency.

“And Time voted (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim the man-of-theyear and more popular than (Tun Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad), but yet (Dr) Mahathir won the 1999 general election.”

Salleh, however, brushed off the article as irrelevant to Malaysian politics.

“(It) will not really sway public opinion as those who support the opposition, or otherwise, are not going to shift just because Time says Trump is more popular than Najib outside the town of Pekan.”

Besides Najib, the other “less popular world leaders” named by Time were Nicolas Maduro (president of Venezuela), Jacob Zuma (president of South Africa), Michel Temer (president of Brazil) and Alexis Tsipras (prime minister of Greece).

Is ‘Time’ saying that Najib and the other four world leaders are less popular than Trump in Terengganu and Kelantan, or in New York City?