KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor attended the Chinese New Year ‘open house’ organised by MCA here today.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his wife Puan Sri Noorainee Abdul Rahman also attended the open house, held at Wisma MCA in Jalan Ampang.
Najib, Rosmah, Muhyiddin and Noorainee, all attired in red, were welcomed upon arrival by MCA leaders led by party president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, to the accompaniment of a lion dance performance.
Najib, Rosmah, Muhyiddin and Noorainee, along with Liow and MIC President Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, tossed the ‘yee sang’ raw fish salad, a traditional festive dish.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein; Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam; Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor; Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and PPP senior vice-president Datuk Seri Maglin Dennis D’Cruz also attended the open house.
The other guests at the open house included Malaysians of various races as well as foreign tourists. They were entertained to song and dance performances as well as a display of martial arts.
Najib, in a live interview over Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), said the Chinese New Year open house that gathered people of all the races reflected the unity of Malaysians.
“I believe that our unity is the basis for us Malaysians to together consolidate our future as a nation,” he said.
Najib extended Chinese New Year greetings to all Malaysians, particularly to the Chinese community.
He expressed the hope that the Year of the Goat would bring more prosperity,
success and well-being to all the people.
Approached by reporters later, Najib said he hoped that 2015 would be a fruitful year for the people and the country.
“2014 was a very challenging year for the country, (augmented) with a drop in the oil price. So, we hope we can have a good year in 2015,” he said. As the name suggests, the Chinese New Year celebration is the beginning of
the new year in the Chinese lunar calendar.
Najib also attends Gerakan Open house
Later, Najib, Rosmah, Muhyiddin and Noorainee attended the Chinese New Year open house hosted by Gerakan at Menara PGRM in Cheras.
Gerakan president Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, who was attired in red, welcomed them as they arrived at 11.15 am.
Najib had a look at the stalls where various types of food, such as satay and laksa, were offered to guests, and then joined several other VIPs to partake of some food. Also present were Tengku Adnan, Hishammuddin, Palanivel, Dr Subramaniam, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahib Omar and MCA deputy president Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong.
Gerakan vice-president Datuk A. Kohilan Pillay and former Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon were also present at the open house.
Najib and Muhyiddin also joined several people in tossing the ‘yee sang’. Guests were entertained to a performance of dances and songs as well as a lion dance.
— BERNAMA
