KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore-born Datuk Adi Putra, who recently confirmed that he was now a Malaysian citizen, cannot wait to vote for the first time in the 14th general election next week.
The 37-year-old KL Gangster star whose real name is Mohamed Hadi Putera Abdul Halim, admitted that he was a strong Barisan Nasional supporter, and had attended several “ceramah” by candidates in the Klang Valley over the last few days.
“As a new Malaysian, I’m eager to exercise my right as a citizen determining my leaders. My friends in showbiz, and my neighbours and relatives, have different political choices, but what’s most important is we all get to vote our representatives on our own free will,” he said in a recent Instagram post which he displayed his Malaysian identity card.
Adi, who will appear in a film about 1890s Malay warrior from Pahang, Mat Kilau next year, said he was thankful to Malaysia’s leaders for improving the people’s lives, and “chose blue” as a “thank you” to them.
“Blue is the colour of the sea that surrounds us, and we’ve got a good team of leaders who competently sail the ship that’s our country,” added Adi.
He advised Netizens that voting was a personal matter and voters should “agree to disagree”, remaining friends with one another once they had cast their ballots on May 9.
“People may disagree with me on my choices, and I’m okay with that. But we should not let political differences become enmity, instead we should stay united as Malaysians.”
Adi revealed last month that he had obtained Malaysian citizenship more than a year ago. He arrived in Kuala Lumpur in 2002, and initially wanted to remain a Singaporean citizen.
He soon fell in love with Malaysia’s warm, beautiful and charming people, and rich cultural heritage, and decided to possess dual citizenship, but this was not possible.
After much thought, Adi chose to be a Malaysian because of better job prospects.