Kota kinabalu: Over 20,000 people turned up to enliven the Sabah government's Hari Raya Aidilfitri Open House celebration at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) here today. The celebration was graced by the presence of the Yang Dipertua Negeri Sabah, Tun Musa Aman, and his wife, Toh Puan Faridah Tussin, who arrived at about noon.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor stated that the Aidilfitri open house is the state government's annual tradition in allowing people from all backgrounds to jointly celebrate the festival. "We hold this event yearly. It has become a tradition for us to hold Aidilfitri open house celebrations," he told reporters. "It allows everyone, irrespective of race, to join in. This is something that is very good for our multi-racial state. We use this opportunity to further strengthen the bonds of friendship among one another," he added.

A total of 71 stalls, involving local entrepreneurs, served various types of Aidilfitri dishes, while the celebration also featured 15 hotels and six agencies, including local authorities and state government departments. The celebration, themed 'Aidilfitri Wadah Perpaduan' (Aidilfitri A Platform for Unity), also entertained over 1,000 tahfiz children and orphans. Among the mouth-watering spread were rendang, kelupis (glutinous rice delicacy wrapped in nyirik leaves), laksa, curry mee, raya biscuits and cakes.