IPOH: The Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah and Raja Permaisuri Perak Tuanku Zara Salim today graced the Perak state-level Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations at the grounds of the Indera Nulia Stadium, here today.
The Sultan, accompanied by the Raja Permaisuri arrived at 3.10pm and were greeted by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, along with state executive councillors and several dignitaries.
Also in attendance were the Raja Muda Perak Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa, Raja Puan Besar Perak Raja Nazhatul Shima Idris Shah, Raja DiHilir Perak Raja Iskandar Dzurkarnain Idris Shah, Raja Puan Muda Perak Tunku Soraya Abdul Halim Shah and Minister of Housing and Local Government Nga Kor Ming.
During the celebration, Sultan Nazrin and Tuanku Zara presented ‘duit raya’ to orphans and poor children from Pusat Jagaan Darus Salam, Ipoh; Pusat Jagaan Anak-Anak Yatim dan Miskin Nurul Iman; Pusat Jagaan Yayasan Amanah An-Nur Maisarah; dan Pusat Jagaan Persatuan Anak-Anak Yatim Soleha, Tanjung Tualang.
Around 20,000 people of various races attended the celebrations and enjoyed the various spread of food and beverage prepared for the occassion like satay, kebab, nasi himpit, kuey teow, ketupat, lemang, rendang and kambing golek.
Earlier, Saarani in his speech said that the celebration today reflected the strength and uniqueness of Malayisans, especially in Perak, who are united in building harmony, despite their different cultures, race and religion.
“It should be noted that the diversity of the people should not be a stumbling block to establish close relationships between races which has existed since pre-Independence. We must embrace unity in diversity to enjoy the prevailing peace and harmony,” he said.
Saarani added that despite preserving the values of unity, there has been incidents recently that encrouches sensitive issues related to race and religion.
He also invited the people of Perak to unite and rekindle the spirit of togetherness and defend peace and unity and reject divisiveness because such polemics and debate would only be detrimental to the tolerance as well as incite hatred.
The social media that should have served as a platform to dessiminate values that can boost unity and love among each other, is instead being used to fuel hatred that can erode peace and hinder progress, he said.
