Football With Najib

Another long overdue post...but maybe it is still relevant since the General Election is around the corner. hehe...

I first heard about it on the radio but didn’t pay any attention to it. Then I saw it on my twitter timeline. Still, didn’t care about it. The next day, I read it on the newspaper. Spontaneously, I went to the 1Malaysia website and registered myself. Just for fun because just like our Prime Minister, I am a Manchester United fan yo! And it is not easy to get a chance to watch a football game with the Prime Minister. In his house!

I’ve been to his house in Taman Duta a few times as my dad got the invitation to his annual Hari Raya Open House. But Seri Perdana, I’ve never stepped foot in there.

Didn’t put any hope at all as I foresaw a lot of applications for the slots. They didn’t state how many people get to go to the event but being unlucky in lucky draws, or anything similar, I didn’t see myself getting the invite.

But lucky I was, because that very evening, I got a reply from the secretariat informing I was invited! They required immediate reply on the attendance confirmation. I was allowed to bring 1 guest with me so I asked my sister to tag along.

Came the derby day.

We were asked to be at Seri Perdana at 7pm for registration. We went out from the house around 6pm after watching New Zealand lifted the Rugby World Cup by only a point. Prior to that, we tuned to the Sepang MotoGP and watched in horror the accident which claimed the life of Marco Simoncelli. Oh wow... what a day, I thought.

Anyway, that was our first time going to Seri Perdana so we didn’t know where it was. The address only stated Precint 10. Thanks to my phone’s GPS, we managed to be there on time.

First thing first, we needed to register ourselves. They were quite strict as those names not in the list weren’t allowed to get in. Got our tag, took the lucky draw number and off we went in.

*jakun mode on*

We took pictures everywhere! But as we took another picture at the entrance, the staff said ‘Sorry you can’t take picture here... only in the banquet hall’. Oopps...

The staffs then handed us goody bags, which contained some souvenirs for the event.

So we stepped up the stairs heading to the banquet hall. We stopped at the entrance because we weren’t sure where should we go. The setting of the banquet hall was very relaxing; there were tables of 4, round tables of 10, bar etc.

Those early birds were already seated. We looked around for staffs to ask about the seating arrangement, but none were in sight. So we just made our way to the available tables. All tables of 4 were taken so we chose a round table of 10 nearby the door.

Oh yeah... we had buffet dinner as well. There were stalls outside the banquet hall, serving yummylicious food. So, a table nearby the door was very suitable for these hungry birds, easier to refill our plates. :p

While waiting for Dato’ Seri Najib, a DJ whom I didn’t know his name walked around and asking random questions. He then gave us instructions of what to do, like clapping when Dato’ Seri arrived.

 

Finally, at around 8.15pm, the VIP host arrived. Everybody clapped their hand and cameras were flashing nonstop. He was very casual, greeting everybody on his way in.

After some speeches, we took our food and waited for the match to start.

During the match, Dato’ Seri played a welcoming host. He put aside his VIP status; he didn’t sit at his VIP seat at the centre of the banquet hall. Instead, he mingled with the guests. He walked around and sat at some lucky tables with the guests, enjoying the game.

Yeah everybody knew the results by now. We were trashed 1-6 by our neighbour. But united we stand, we will fight back people!

After the game ended, Dato’ Seri thanked us for coming, took some pictures before leaving to his bedroom? He couldn’t stay longer as he’s leaving to somewhere (I forgot where) the next morning.

We made the house like ours then, took pictures at the lobby like nobody’s business. The lobby was filled with his pictures and some of the souvenirs and gifts presented to him from various parties.

A few polices were around, I was afraid they would warn us not to take any pictures but they seemed to be cool. I guessed they understand that it was a rare opportunity for these visitors. However, after some time, they shooed us away. Haha...

Finally we made our way out. A great night, a great outing with a great leader.