PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak said he did not mean to denigrate those working late at night when he criticised the government’s move to make tolled highways free during off-peak hours.
He admitted that he had been carried away by the response from his audience when he made references to the LGBT community during an event in Semenyih last night.
“It was not my intention to make fun of employees working late night or road users who use highway with tolls after 11pm,” Najib said in a Facebook post apologising for the remarks.
Najib had said only ghosts, drinkers, LGBT and “those looking for customers” would stay awake to benefit from the off-peak congestion charge.
The comment angered members of the public who found it derogatory.
The government recently announced its plan to replace toll collection along four highways with congestion charges.
Under the plan, the four highways will be made toll-free between 11pm and 5am.