obama_najib.jpg (Photo : REUTERS/Hugh Gentry)
United States President Barrack Obama and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak were found enjoying their Christmas break playing golf on a cloudy afternoon on Wednesday at a Marine Corps base course in Kanehoe Bay, Hawaii.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is vacationing in Hawaii, joined Obama and the team of foursome that included aides Joe Paulsen and Mike Brush, in playing golf.
Obama, who has rented a house close to the Marine Corps for his two weeks stay, seemed relaxed in casual clothes, laughing and chatting with Najib between shots.
As per a statement released by the White House, the two leaders spoke in detail about the growing relationship between the two countries.
"The president said he looked forward to working with Prime Minister Najib in 2015, during Malaysia's chair year of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations," Washington Post quoted the White House as having said in a statement.
Obama already has a good working relationship with Najib, after he became the first US president to visit Malaysia last spring. At that time, he asked the Malaysian government to work and improve on political freedom and human rights, according to Miami Herald.
This is not the first time that President Obama has used his holiday to strengthen ties with another country. In 2013, while on a vacation, the US President had interacted with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who owns a house in Hawaii.
Though the media is usually not allowed access to Obama's golf games, the reporters were permitted to watch and take pictures of the two leaders playing and interacting with each other for a while. However, neither Obama nor Najib seemed to be getting lucky with the golf ball.
The president in the end waved at the reporters and wished them a merry Christmas.
"Be careful about those fruity drinks. You never know they might have a little kick," added Obama to the press persons collected there.
