KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today rejected claims that the Sultan of Johor had refused to shake his hand.
He said an image spread on social media and claiming to depict such an incident was taken out of context, as it was from the middle of an engagement and after all the formal greetings were completed.
"I could only shake my head when I saw it on social media. The Sultan of Johor had waited for me at the palace. I had tea with him. I rode in the car that he drove. I sat next to him and we had a conversation," he said at the launching ceremony of the “Kami Anak Felda Malaysia” club.
"Am I supposed to get out of the car and shake hands again? People would think I was mad."
A video distributed online showed Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar and Najib attending the launch of Forest City 2016, and captured the moment of arrival as they walked in together and shook hands with other VIPs save for each other.
An accompanying picture from the same event depicted the two seating apart with the Sultan facing away from Najib.
“People wanted to make a story out of nothing and post it on social media. It is a matter of perception,” he said.
“Much of the perception cannot be believed. These stories cannot be believed. But the story that matters now is, the story of who has been building us up all this while, and who will continue to bring us to a better future,” he added.
