The Malaysian Insight

A CROWD swelling into the thousands were awaiting admission into Seri Perdana early this morning for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Hari Raya open house, and officials expect tens of thousands more to turn up later today.

The event was scheduled to begin at 10am but the large crowd numbering some 2,000 people prompted host officials to open the gates to the prime minister’s official residence an hour early.

Dr Mahathir is expected to take part in a photo session with the guests on stage later today. 

His new cabinet members, including Transport Minister Anthony Loke, Multimedia and Communications Minister Gobind Singh, and Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin are expected at the celebration which will end at 4.30pm.

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is expected to take over host duties from around noon until the end, with husband and de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim also attending.

The crowd of people grew by the minute, as people swarmed the grounds of Seri Perdana, enjoying traditional Hari Raya and Malaysian food like satay, fried noodles, nasi lemak, and rendang.

A check at buffet lines showed at least 20 different types of dishes prepared.

Dr Mahathir arrived at 11.15am and was immediately surrounded by well-wishers, some of whom were ordinary folk who told The Malaysian Insight they had come just to congratulate him on Pakatan Harapan’s win at the May 9 election.

The prime minister was mobbed all the way to the VIP stage, flanked by four policemen on each side.

Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu, popular for his down-to-earth ways, was also mobbed by people rushing to shake his hand when he arrived. – June 15, 2018.