Malaysia PM Anwar engages in pillow fight with grandkids, wins hearts

Prime Minister by day, grandfather by night.

Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim shared on his official X account last Thursday (Oct 26), a video of him spending time with his grandchildren, engaging in pillow fights with them.

His post captioned: "All my tiredness is gone while paying attention to my grandkids." 

[embed]https://x.com/anwaribrahim/status/1717549008628089143?s=20[/embed]

The heartwarming 19-second clip gave the world a glimpse into Anwar's jovial side out of office where he can be seen playfully tossing the pillows at his three grandchildren.

The little ones can also be seen having a great time engaging with their grandfather as they get hit by the pillows tossed by 76-year-old Anwar.

As part of the game, they also hurled the pillows back at Anwar.

Garnering more than 1.5 million views at the time of writing, Anwar's video showing his affection towards his grandchildren warmed the hearts of many netizens.

A user commented: "For his grandkids, he will always be atuk (grandfather) at home, not PMX (the country's tenth PM)."

"You remind us family is super important. Thanks my PMX," another user chimed in. 

"Any cucu (grandchild) would be lucky to have time and chance to play with their grandparents. I always imagine how it would be if i could play with my grandparents as well," a user also commented, wishing he had the chance to spend time with his grandparent. 

Earlier this year, Anwar showed off the arrival of his twelfth grandchild — his half-Japanese grandchild Nurul Isra Mitsuki.

"Praise be to God!" Anwar said in a post on Twitter accompanied by a photograph of him cradling the baby as one of his grandsons looks on, reported The Straits Times earlier this year.

A father of six children, Anwar said that he and his wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, are now the grandparents to 12 grandchildren following the birth of Nurul Isra.

Anwar in Singapore 

Anwar is currently in Singapore for the 10th Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat where leaders of both countries will discuss bilateral issues and explore new areas of co-operation.

The two-day retreat is the first one to be held since the Covid-19 pandemic, The Straits Times reported.

Datuk Seri Anwar will call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Monday.

This will be their first meeting since Tharman was sworn in as Singapore's ninth president on Sept 14.

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ashwini.balan@asiaone.com