KUALA LUMPUR: Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah today consented to attend the 2019 Special Education Arts and Cultural Skills and Entrepreneurship Festival, Kuala Lumpur Education Department level at the Craft Complex here today.
The three-day festival which began today was a platform for special education pupils and teachers to showcase their abilities in arts and culture to the public.
Tunku Azizah’s presence was symbolic of the concern of the Royal Institution for the well-being and prosperity of the people.
Also present was Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Hannah Yeoh, Special Education Division Director in the Education Ministry Datuk Yasmin Hussain and Senior Director of the Malaysian Handicraft Industry Development Division ‘Ainu Sham Ramli.
At the event, Tunku Azizah and about 1,000 guests were entertained by traditional dance performances and songs by students of Sekolah Seni Malaysia and Sekolah Pendidikan Khas Setapak.
She also visited the exhibition and competition venues and chatted with those present.
The festival sees the participation of almost 300 pupils of various special needs from 53 schools offering the Integrated Special Education Programme and the Kuala Lumpur Special Education School.
A total of 11 competitions are being held during the festival including creating the ‘sirih junjung’, decorating the glutinous rice cake, tradition cooking contests and batik painting.
Tunku Azizah also delighted those present by singing the song ‘Bassanova’ which was made popular by singer Wann, with a student of Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih here.
Aneesya Ramadani Atuni, 13, told reporters she did not imagine that she would be sharing the microphone with the Queen when she started ‘busking’ at the festival.
“My teacher told me that Raja Permaisuri would attend the programme, but I did not expect to meet her or that she would visit the booths.
“When I was singing, I suddenly saw many people, and then I saw Raja Permaisuri walking here, so I put out my hand to salam her, but I did not expect her to take the microphone and sing with me,” Aneesya said. — Bernama
