Grandma attends Istana open house yearly

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KOTA KINABALU: Edith Chong, 63, has been visiting the Istana Negeri during Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house for several years now.

“I enjoy the food and come here with my church members. I have been coming here since 2008,” said Edith who started waiting outside the Istana Negeri gates since 11am with two other friends here yesterday.

“This is one of the things we do and it is where our fellowship comes to celebrate the merriment together with other people.

“To stay young, you must have positive thinking. These days a lot is happening in this world. We must take time to do the things we want to do before it is too late,” added the cheerful former teacher from Tanjung Aru.

According to Edith, she has also visited the Brunei Istana in 2013, and Sarawak in 2011, for the Raya open house and does not feel bothered with weather conditions or the crowd.

“I feel no barrier between the people here. I am going to the (Sabah Chief Minister and Cabinets Ministers) open house at Likas after church tomorrow,” she smiled happily.

“I am going with my granddaughter, my daughter does not want to come with me,” she added jokingly while finishing her plate of traditional Raya cuisine at a table with her friends and other members of the public.

Nearby, former accountant Michael Chong, 64, is enjoying his plate of Raya food.

“I come here alone every year. My children, already in their 30s, are in Peninsular Malaysia. My wife, who is a babysitter, is working so I come here to celebrate the festivities alone,” said Michael who hails from Penampang.

Although he has been visiting the Istana Negeri during Raya alone for the past three to four years now, Michael does not feel lonely or lost among the crowd.

“I just come here to celebrate only and no other reason. You run into friends or make new friends here. I also saw a friend who just came back from Australia and ran into a friend from Semenanjung here, today,” he added.

A family from the Netherlands, who came to Kota Kinabalu from Jakarta a week ago, also stopped by at the Istana Negeri yesterday.

“It is our first time in Kota Kinabalu and we came here to experience the open house in Sabah. We knew about the event from locals here,” said 42-year-old Oliver Bosman.

“We waited patiently outside the gate for about 30 minutes but it was worth it. We look forward to trying the local delicacies such as rendang and lemang,” said Bosman.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Azira Jong from Putatan enjoyed her first experience celebrating Raya with her firstborn at the Istana Negeri open house here yesterday.

“I came with my family here and my five-month-old son. I hope to come here in the coming years until he is old enough to get his own food at least,” said Azira merrily.

This year is also Royal Artillery Regiment army man Zeffry Mahdi’s first visit to the Istana Negeri with his family.

“I was posted at Lok Kawi until 2011 but was transferred back to Sarawak in 2006,” said Zeffry who is originally from Kota Samarahan.

“We have been married for 11 years now and come back every year during Raya to visit my wife’s family. But this year we decided to come visit here as suggested by my father-in-law.

“We drove here from his home in Sepanggar. I feel happy to be here and see the kids be happy and enjoy themselves here,” he shared.

Some 5,000 members of the public came to join in the festivities at the Istana Negeri Raya open house here yesterday.

The crowd, consisting mainly of non-Muslims from different background and race, started to congregate outside the Istana gates before 10am even though the gates were only opened to the public at 11.30am.

Some who came were seen with small plastic containers used to pack back some tidbits and food from the venue.