Tens of thousands of Malaysians thronged the open house by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at Seri Perdana in Putrajaya today, in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
Many were hoping to catch a glimpse of Mahathir at the event, the latter's first open house since returning to the premiership after a 15-year absence.
A long queue almost immediately formed outside the official residence where large tents were set up so that members of the public could shake hands with Malaysia's eighth prime minister and members of his cabinet.
Previously, the meet and greet sessions were only held inside the residence.
The large size of the crowd forced the emcee of the event to bar members of the public from taking selfies with Mahathir and the cabinet members so as to ensure the queue moved smoothly without any holdups.
An official source placed the number of attendees at around 50,000.
Malaysiakini observed that non-Malays made up almost half of those attending in contrast to previous open houses held by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak which attracted a predominantly Malay crowd.
Chan Huei Chuen, a 40-year-old housewife, had brought along her three children as she was keen for them to meet with the popular prime minister.
"I want them to know (politics). I respect Dr Mahathir and I want my children to meet him (now, as) he's already 92 years old," she told Malaysiakini.
Mahathir will be live-streaming a press conference later today.
[More to follow] - Mkini
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