Shouts of 'hidup Tun' greets Dr Mahathir in Alor Setar
ALOR SETAR, June 2 (Bernama) -- The maiden homecoming of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Alor Setar after being appointed to helm the nation for the second time on May 10, was greeted with joy by the people of Kedah comprising the various races at the Sultan Abdul Halim Airport, here this afternoon.
Shortly after the door of the special aircraft carrying the nation's number one leader and his wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali was opened, shouts of 'Long Live Tun' by more than 500 of his supporters reverberated around the airport to greet the arrival of Dr Mahathir who wore a red-coloured shirt.
Dr Mahathir later shook hands with the people who had loyally waited since 9 am, with some of them carrying banners with the wordings 'Selamat Datang Perdana Menteri ke Kedah' (Welcome Prime Minister to Kedah) and 'Tahniah Tun PM Malaysia ke-7' (Congratulations Tun, Malaysia's 7th PM).
Among the Pakatan Harapan leaders who greeted his arrival were State DAP Chairman Tan Kok Yew and State Amanah Chairman Datuk Dr Ismail Salleh.
Dr Mahathir, who was in Langkawi yesterday, is scheduled to have an audience with the Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Sallehuddin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah at 2.30 pm at Istana Anak Bukit.
Mercy Samuel, 60, who works as clinical assistant at Klinik Maha, the clinic founded by Dr Mahathir, said she was very excited to greet the return of Dr Mahatir, who created history by becoming prime minister twice.
"Of course, as the people of Kedah we are very proud of him and are confident that he is capable of bringing changes in various fields, Malaysia is going to be reborn again," she said.
Meanwhile, Helen Loo Chean Yin,50, said she just heard from her friend about Dr Mahathir's maiden homecoming to Kedah and rushed to the airport in order not to miss the opportunity to meet personally with the 93-year-old leader.
"I wish to thank him for being our seventh prime minister and (am) really glad that he took back to care for this country, so thank you very much to all the supporters who made this happen, this is our rakyat's wish," said Loo, who could not hold back her tears of happiness.
Alor Setar-born Dr Mahathir again created history by becoming the oldest prime minister in the world by returning to the Office of the Prime Minister in Putrajaya after having resigned from the post 15 years ago in 2003 .
--BERNAMA
