Veteran newsman A Kadir Jasin wants the Prime Minister's office to clarify which Malay subculture Najib Abdul Razak followed for his daughter's wedding ceremonies.

"I apologise if I am confused as to which Malay culture was followed by the prime minister's family that the groom had to bear the cost for both sides.

"Was it Bugis culture? Minang? Or Kazakh culture that has been (influenced by) the Bugis and Minangkabau?" he asked in a scathing yet sarcastic blog post aimed at the Najib's aide Rizal Mansor.

Kadir then listed then names of Najib and Rosmah's children and parents, and which culture they both came from.

He had previously questioned if it was appropriate for Najib's son-in-law Daniyar Kessikbayev to foot the wedding cost, including travel expenses for Najib and family to fly to Kazakhstan.

In response, Rizal told Malaysiakini that the former NSTP group editor was " not well versed " with Malay culture, as it was the adat (culture) for the groom to pay the wedding bills .

"Rizal may not know me that well, but I have never claimed to be a cultural expert. In fact if he reads my writings, I frequently refer to myself as a country yokel ( orang kampung ).

"What I know about Malay wedding culture (for kampung Malays like me) is that the bride will pay for the reception on her side, and the groom will pay for the reception on his side.

"Likewise, when the bride's entourage goes to the groom's side, the bride's side will bear the cost.

"It is not culture for the groom to sponsor the bride's reception or (vice-versa). If it happens it is an exception and not the norm," Kadir wrote.

Bridal gift so huge

He also asked if the ceremonies were paid for using Nooryana Najwa's bridal gift ( hantaran ).

"I'm not sure if, in the case of the prime minister's daughter's wedding, the 'hantaran' was so huge that it could sponsor several receptions at lavish places attended by thousands.

"I want Rizal ( right ) to verify if it is true or false that (Nooryana Najwa's) 'hantaran' was US$3 million (RM11.1 million). This does not include the 'mas kahwin' (dowry) and gold jewels," he asked.

The wedding receptions mostly escaped public scrutiny until former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed, during a speaking engagement, about talk that RM3 million had been spent on flowers for the Kuala Lumpur leg.

Mahathir, who dubbed the wedding as the " wedding of the century ", also alleged that 300 people were part of the Najib's entourage for the Kazakhstan leg.

Kadir also responded to Rizal ridiculing him as a "former senior journalist" for making a factual mistake in his article, claiming that the wedding reception in Kazakhstan took place in Astana instead of Almaty.

"For Rizal's information, I am still a journalist, and when I was in charge of a media organisation once upon a time, it wasn't doing as badly as it is today," he said.

When contacted later, Rizal told Malaysiakini that the value of the bridal gift was a private matter.

"I don't know nor do I want to know. That is a private matter," he said.