KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 ― Former prime minister-turned-Opposition leader Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad finally made his Instagram foray at age 92 today.
Within hours of joining the photo-sharing social media community, he drew 18,200 followers with a picture of him and his 91-year-old wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali sharing a light-hearted moment.
“Hari ini saya mulakan akaun Instagram saya dengan gambar bersama Hasmah. Isteri saya selama 62 tahun, yang sentiasa setia bersama saya sejak dulu lagi. As doctors, laughter is indeed the best medicine,” he said in his debut post on the account Chedetofficial ― a nod to his childhood nickname “Che Det”.
[Translation: Today I start my Instagram account with a photograph with Hasmah. My wife for 62 years, who is always faithfully with me since then. As doctors, laughter is indeed the best medicine.]
Dr Mahathir holds the record as the country’s longest-serving prime minister from 1981 to 2003.
Both Dr Mahathir and his wife are medically trained.
Just three hours after Dr Mahathir’s maiden Instagram post was uploaded, it has attracted 9,784 likes and 1,085 comments.
Dr Mahathir, who will be turning 93 this July, has been blogging since May 2008 through the site chedet.cc which has recorded over 28.5 million visitors to date.
He joined the microblogging site Twitter in January 2015, with his account handle @chedetofficial attracting over 391,000 followers since then.
He also maintains an official Facebook page under the name @TunDrMahathir with a following of over 2.54 million people.
Dr Mahathir currently chairs Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and the federal Opposition pact Pakatan Harapan.
His Instagram participation is the latest notch on the most popular social media platforms ahead of the 14th general elections which must be held by this August, and which many politicians on both sides of the divide believe will be a psychological battle on the cyber front.
