Queen plans to bring handicrafts made by inmates to ASEAN Symposium

KAJANG, Nov 3 -- The Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah announced today, that she planned to take handicrafts produced by inmates to the seventh ASEAN Traditional Textile Symposium, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which kicks off tomorrow.

The queen expressed her wish in front of about 2,000 inmates at the Kajang Prison during the 2019 Malaysian National Choir Concert here.

"We will bring the products made by inmates of the Kajang Prison (Selangor), Marang Prison (Terengganu), Penor and Bentong prisons (Pahang) to be displayed there (Indonesia) tomorrow," she said, before entertaining the guests with a medley performance of songs - ‘I Will Survive’ (Gloria Gaynor) and ‘Survivor’ (Destiny's Child) - along with renowned singers Datuk Syafinaz Selamat and Misha Omar.

Tunku Azizah, who arrived at the event at 4.45 pm, stayed for almost two hours before departing at 6.30 pm.

She was welcomed by Prisons director-general Datuk Seri Zulkifli Omar, Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik and the director-general of the National Department for Culture and Arts (NDCA), Tan Sri Norliza Rofli.

Meanwhile, the concert entitled 'Music Therapy - Heart Doctor' was performed by the Malaysian National Choir team, bringing songs from all genres aimed at delivering a positive message and spreading joy among the inmates.

It is part of a social responsibility programme by the NDCA aimed at not only improving the image of the Prisons department, but also to enliven the inmates.

-- BERNAMA