Dr Mahathir Mohamad today commented on the extravagance of the wedding of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's daughter, calling it the "wedding of the century".

"This isn't the wedding of the year but the wedding of the century.

"But when they went to Kazakhstan with 300 people, it wasn't reported by mainstream media.

"Who are these 300 people?" asked the former PM at at the 'Bicara Negarawan: You Are Not Alone' talk in Kuala Lumpur.

In comparison, he said none of his own children's weddings were memorable.

"Who here remembers the weddings of my children [...] no one knows about it.

"(This is because) I am stingy, I didn't invite many people. I don't have money to spend," Mahathir told the audience at the forum organised by NGO coalition Prihatin.

Najib's daughter Nooryana Najwa tied the knot with Daniyar Kessikbayev of Kazakhstan in a ceremony at Seri Perdana, the prime minster's official residence, on March 19.

Since then, the couple have had four wedding receptions at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre; the Putra World Trade Centre; Najib's constituency of Pekan, Pahang; and in Almaty Kazakhstan.

The groom's reception in Almaty is reported to have been held from April 17 to 19.

Mahathir said weddings such as these are not becoming of a leader.

"A leader leads. If he only wants to use the power he has for himself, then he is not a leader," he said.

The former prime minister arrived at the forum driving a blue Proton Iriz on his own. With him in the passenger seat was his wife, Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali ( photos ).

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