The serious matter of the debt-ridden 1MDB took a lighthearted turn at a seminar today when an audience member asked the 1MDB chief out for coffee.

During the first question-and-answer session with 1MDB chief Arul Kanda Kandasamy, the last question from the floor went to a lady dressed in orange.

"I'm not an Umno member," she explained, following three other questions from Umno members.

"But I just wanted to ask this gentleman (Arul) one question.

"Can I have coffee with you?" she asked, receiving a raucous reaction from the crowd of about 1,200.

Arul Kanda answered her question first, before delving into the Umno members' questions on 1MDB.

"I'll have to ask my wife," he quipped, to a laughing crowd.

In the second question-and-answer session, another audience member identified himself as an Umno member from Kelantan.

This prompted Arul Kanda to ask in Kelantanese whether the man had brought any budu – a type of sauce famous in Kelantan – with him.

Again, the crowd made up mostly of Umno members reacted favourably.

Arul Kanda also presented a 35-minute slideshow detailing the history of 1MDB as well as several of its business dealings, its problems and some solutions.

Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan acted as the moderator for the three sessions,.

Most of the questions came from Umno members. One Umno member suggested that Arul Kanda hold a meeting with "those who still don't understand" the 1MDB issue.

"Everyone here already understands it," the man said to applause.

The seminar was held with Arul Kanda as a guest speaker for 1MDB, while International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed spoke on Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and Finance Minister II Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah on the Budget 2016.