Former Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak gave the same reason that every Singaporean student gives when caught dozing off.

Najib denied he had fallen asleep during a hearing at the Court of Appeal, when asked by reporters about him taking 40 winks on March 18.

"No, I was closing my eyes. Don't make an issue out of it," with Malaysiakini adding that he seemed "unhappy".

Najib then walked away without answering further questions.

1MDB-related charges

Najib was in court to hear charges relating to the handling of funds from SRC International, which was a subsidiary of the scandal-tainted 1MDB fund.

Apparently, a police personnel had approached Najib to rouse him when he was seen with his eyes closed while the case was being heard in court.

Previously, on March 15, Najib also caused a stir by slipping out of the courtroom to go to the bathroom without informing the court.

According to Malaysiakini, his counsel Muhammad Shafee then apologised to the bench on his behalf:

"We apologise. Najib did not realise (he needs to inform the court before going to the washroom)."

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Top image from Najib Razak's Facebook page.