Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is on a day-long visit to Penang today, went on a walkabout in the city centre, meeting and chatting with the people, particularly traders.

najib penang visit najib pc Accompanied by two ministers in the Prime Minister's Department, Koh Tsu Koon, Nor Mohamed Yakcop, the prime minister ( right, with Koh on the left ) arrived at Taman Tun Sardon at Bukit Gelugor at 9.40am and engaged in conversation with the people as he did his walkabout.

A slight drizzle did not stop the people, mainly residents of Taman Tun Sardon, from eagerly greeting Najib and his delegation which comprised several other Penang BN leaders as well.

At the wet market, traders rushed forward to shake Najib's hand and offer salutations.

The prime minister took the opportunity of the visit to have breakfast at a stall there, helping himself to the traditional "serabai" (a kind of pancake) and the "kaya" (sweet paste) accompaniment.

Stallholder Jamaliah Hassan, 53, was thrilled that the prime minister and his delegation stopped by at her ‘Serabai Istimewa’ outlet. 

"It was totally unexpected. I am proud to have served breakfast to our prime minister," said Jamaliah, who has been operating the stall with her elder sister for the past 19 years.

She said Najib had asked her the recipe for making "serabai" because he had never eaten it.

"The prime minister said it was the first time he was eating serabai and that it was delicious and went very well with the kaya," she said.

RM500 donation to two elderly women

After breakfast, Najib and his delegation moved on to the Jelutong market to meet and chat with the traders there before proceeding to the Padang Tembak flats and the Kampung Melayu flats in Air Itam.

At the Kampung Melayu flats, Najib handed over a RM500 donation to two poor, elderly women, one of them Maimoon Syarifah Syed Mohd, 55, and the other, Shin Moy Mooi, 78. 

Maimoon Syarifah, who has been living at the flats for 34 years, said she depended on the RM300 monthly aid from the Social Welfare Department to meet her living expenses.

"I have been suffering from hypertension and diabetes for the past eight years, which has forced me to be bedridden," said the mother of six children, two of whom have married and live elsewhere.

Maimoon Syarifah said she was moved by the visit of the prime minister to her home and was thankful for the gift.

"I proudly welcome the prime minister because I have not had leaders calling at my home to extend donations to my family," she said.

Shin lives alone on a fifth-floor unit.

Taxi driver unhappy with low fares

Earlier, the Penang Federation of Taxi Drivers Associations has raised with Najib what it feels is a low rate of metered fares. 

It also brought up the existence of unregistered taxis and hire cars as well as the change of status of taxis to hire cars in a memorandum federation leader Abdul Malik Darus handed to Najib soon after the prime minister flew into Penang at 9am for a day-long visit.

"This is not the first memorandum we have handed over. Perhaps, the previous ones did not reach the prime minister, so today we handed it to him personally," said Queensbay Taxi Association chairperson Mohd Shukri Yaakop.

He said the taxi drivers in the state wanted the government to act against unregistered operators and owners of hire cars which engaged in unhealthy competition with them.

   

Najib chatted with the taxi drivers and stuck a "1Malaysia" sticker on a taxi owned by Asmadi Md Salleh.