Parliament Open Day Visitation

18 August 2022 was the Parliament open day. It was the first time parliament opened up to members of the public.

I took a bus load of Seputeh constituents to visit Parliament. Many of them visited parliament for the first time and they were excited. I played the role of “tour guide” together with a Parliament officer, Zhafry.

Zhafry is quite candid when he introduced the portraits of previous PMs and Kings to visitors. He said Tun Dr Mahathir has been the PM for 22 years last time, but when he became PM again after GE14, he only lasted for 22 months. 😂

I bumped into many visitors including students from the national defence university (UPNM), a university from Terengganu, students and teachers from Putrajaya and various schools. A number of them took photos with me.

I asked a few secondary school students from Putrajaya whether they know who their MP is, the students said they didn’t know. Ha ha!! Habis lah!! Tengku Adnan! He is going to lose young people’s support in the coming GE.

It was really an open and relaxing day for visitors. Many food trucks were selling food. The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) had also set up booths to introduce local traditional games such as “guli”, takraw and etc. Students played games happily in Dataran Parlimen. It was interesting as that corner is always used for the formal opening of Parliament by the King and for official receptions for foreign dignitaries.

Well, I must say it was a good idea for Parliament to hold an open day for members of the public. We should learn from many foreign countries where parliament buildings are also tourists destinations.