About 10k attend Putrajaya’s open house in Kedah

 

More than 10,000 people have shown up at Putrajaya’s first out of six Aidilfitri open houses this year - with more still arriving.

The grounds of the Raia Hotel in Alor Setar, Kedah, have been set up with at least five massive tents with tables and chairs for the attendees, with smaller tents lined around the compound’s perimeter.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim greeting attendees

Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was seen making his rounds, greeting and mingling with the attendees.

The crowd looked happy to greet the prime minister, exchanging a few words and taking the opportunity to take photos with him. 

Sisters Nur Hanisah, 23, and Nur Hafizah Razman, 20, described the event to be extremely lively.

“There were so many people, it’s so happy and the food was really good,” said Hanisah, adding that attendees were given “duit raya” of RM10.

Throughout the event, hundreds queued at the buffet line to dig into the food, which comprises kuey teow, mee hoon goreng, bubur cha cha, and satay.

Posters spread across the area also show that tomato rice, ayam masak merah, daging masak kuzi, spiced fried chicken, and fruit acar are on the menu.

Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Salahuddin Ayub (left) with Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor

Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor arrived at the venue solo at about 10.37am, after which he was seen shaking hands and taking photos with government ministers.

He was later spotted chatting with the prime minister and several cabinet members while waiting for the arrival of the state ruler, Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah, who arrived at 11am.

The group then entered the hall together. Sanusi and Anwar were seated on each side of the sultan at the main table.

Their civil outlook comes right after the Kedah menteri besar yesterday blamed his murky relationship with Anwar on “Little Napoleons” in the latter’s office.

Sanusi had previously claimed that today’s open house - the first out of six Putrajaya will hold this season - was a “waste of funds”. 

Traditionally, the prime minister’s open house will be held at his residence in Putrajaya on the first day of Aidilfitri.

But this time around, six of such events - apart from Kedah - will also be held in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu, Kelantan, and Penang.

Perikatan Nasional has also alleged that these open houses were done as a form of election campaigning ahead of the upcoming state polls.

(From left) Fahmi Fadzil, Sanusi and Nga Kor King

Asked about their view on the opposition’s claim, Hafizah said that today’s event was merely an open house to celebrate Aidilfitri. 

She said that it has been a while since big celebrations have been conducted - due to the pandemic - and that the people just want to celebrate Hari Raya together. 

Meanwhile, Kedah PKR member Norma Saidin said today’s event was not a waste as it provided the community an opportunity to strengthen relationships among one another.

Ministers Rafizi Ramli, Nga Kor Ming, Salahuddin Ayub, Fahmi Fadzil, Fadhlina Sidek, Dr Zaliha Mustafa, Mohamad Hasan, Nancy Shukri, and Steven Sim, among others, were also present at today’s event.

During his opening speech, Anwar thanked the sultan for His Majesty’s willingness to attend today’s event.

He added that this was the first event outside of Putrajaya to be attended by the most ambassadors to Malaysia, representing more than 41 countries.

Anwar added that Kedah was a focus for the federal government in terms of developing and improving the state’s economy. - Mkini