BERA, May 7 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today, thanked the tens of thousands of Keluarga Malaysia for taking the time to attend the Bera parliamentary Aidilfitri open house at Laman Kerayong here today.
Ismail Sabri, who was dressed in green baju melayu arrived at 9.35am and spent time greeting and mingling with the people who were from Bera and the nearby districts.
Thirty-two food stalls were put up to allow visitors to enjoy an array of Hari Raya dishes and delicacies from the East Coast, which included lemang, ketupat palas, rendang, nasi dagang and laksa lemak as well as desserts such as cendol, ice-cream and apam ballik..
“The special thing about this open house is that the food here have been prepared by the community. Every village in the Bera parliamentary constituency is involved in the food preparation to be served at the food stalls,” he told reporters here today.
In the midst of the Hari Raya excitement, Ismail Sabri reminded the visitors to continue wearing a face mask when in crowded areas or when taking their food.
While enjoying their food, visitors were also entertained to Raya songs throughout the five-hour event.
After missing Hari Raya celebrations for the past two years, residents of Kampung Dato ‘Sri Hamzah were excited and didn’t mind sacrificing their sleep when they were tasked to cook rendang for the special occasion.
Siti Faridah Jamaluddin, 50, said they started getting ready the necessary cooking utensils since 4pm yesterday, and only started preparing the village’s signature dish last night, which they managed to complete by 4am today.
“We don’t mind the long hours as it pleases us to see people appreciate our cooking. We want our guests to be served with nothing but the best, “ she added.
Mee hoon stall operator, Rahimah Mohd Salleh, 55, from Kampung Batu Bor, said the womenfolks from the surau got together last night to prepare the noodle soup and some of them were assigned to man the stall today.
Meanwhile cendol stall operator Kusmawati Wan Shah, 35, from Kampung Paya Tateh, was honoured to be given the chance to share her family’s cendol recipe which had been her source of income for the past nine years.
Kusmawati said her children too were excited as they got up early in the morning to help her serve the guests today.
“We were so happy to see the long queue at our cendol stall which was located near the main stage,“ she said.
