KUALA LUMPUR: An autistic boy, A. Rekneshwarkumar, 16, who developed great admiration for the country’s leader had his dream fufilled when he had the chance to meet his idol, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in person.
In the 20-minute meeting, the boy nicknamed ‘Ricky’ and his mother, S.Indrani, 43 could not hold back their emotions and were deeply touched by the concern shown by Najib.
Indrani said the short meeting at about 7pm on Wednesday (Feb 8) at the Prime Minister’s office in Putrajaya, was enough to thrill Ricky, her eldest son, who developed a strong admiration for Najib since he was the Deputy Prime Minister.
Ricky was also accompanied by his father B. Ananthkumar, 49, and brother, Dinishvarkumar, 12, at the meeting.
At the meeting, Indrani hailed Najib as a ‘super human being’ because while being burdened with his heavy responsibilities as the Prime Minister, he could still make time to meet ordinary people like them.
“Even though he is busy with his daily duties, he could still meet Ricky to fulfill my son’s dream.
“The meeting would certainly encourage us as a family to guide Ricky in facing the realities of the world,” she told Bernama.
The mother of two boys said Ricky was diagnosed with high function autism when he was four years old.
She said when Ricky was eight years old, he took a liking for Najib who was then the Deputy Prime Minister and it grew into great admiration when he became the Prime Minister in 2009 with the 1Malaysia theme.
“The image of Datuk Seri never fails to enthrall Ricky. He would be excited and smile whenever the picture of the Prime Minister emerges in the newspaper, TV or even advertisement billboards.
“Since he became Prime Minister, Ricky began to mention his name and always asked,”Mum, I want to take a photo with Datuk Seri Najib. Mum, I want to hug Datuk Seri Najib,” she said, adding that her son would only enter a shop or restaurant which displayed a picture of Najib.
“Should there be no picture of Datuk Seri, he would asked the shop worker to hang the picture of the Prime Minister,” she said.
According to her, the concern shown by welfare officers on her son as a disabled person encouraged her to write a private letter to the Prime Minister on Jan 31.
She said, three days after that, she received call from an officer of the Prime Minister’s Department who informed her that Najib had read the letter and agreed to meet them at 6.15pm on Feb 8.
Indrani said the whole family could not fathom Ricky’s intense interest with the Prime Minister but they supported him in making Najib as a life idol.
“Ricky was so excited in his meeting with Datuk Seri so much so he sang the 1Malaysia song for Najib,” she said, adding that they were totally amazed at the warmth of the Prime Minister, especially to Ricky.
Ricky is now schooling at the Malaysia Autism and Learning Disabilities Institute in Persiaran Titiwangsa, Setapak and commutes daily from their house in Bandar Mahkota Cheras here.
According to Indrani, the meeting with the Prime Minister was meaningful as it was an inspiration to them and it showed the Prime Minister touched every segment of the society in Malaysia indeed. –Bernama