A screenshot of Dr Mahathir and Loke in a video on road safety by the Road Safety Department ahead of Aidilfitri.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — Malaysians may have been chuffed just to see Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in this year’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri public service announcement on road safety, made by the Road Safety Department (JKJR).

What’s just as remarkable is that the video was shot and edited in just two weeks and without JKJR touching a single sen of its limited budget.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the entire project was made possible with the help of Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s in-house production team.

In an interview published in The Sunday Star today, Loke related that JKJR had approached him with a request to increase their budget for the PSA, but he urged them to think creatively as the government needs to save money.

“I said we have a stingy finance minister, so they cannot think of asking extra budget. Instead, they must think out of the box as to how to get this done,” he was quoted as saying.

“We went to the prime minister and convinced him to be featured, and got Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s in-house production team on board. We got the video done within two weeks, for free,” he added.

In the 3:45-minute video, Dr Mahathir and Loke spoke candidly in response to a range of questions including discounts on traffic summonses during the Raya holiday period and what to do when motorists are tired during the “balik kampung” exodus.

The video has since garnered more than 100,000 views on JKJR’s YouTube channel.