5,000 'PERANTAU PAHANG' RECEIVE RM50 VOUCHERS UNDER BALIK RAYA PROGRAMME

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Bernama) -- A total of 5,000 Pahang-born people who are living outside the state received vouchers worth RM50 for the purchase of petrol or diesel under the 'Moh Balik Raya ke Pahang 2025' programme.

Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the programme, which is in its second year, aims to encourage Pahang residents to return home for Hari Raya Aidilfitri soon.

"The ‘children’ of Pahang need to support the state government in its efforts to develop the state.

"Pahang will be in line with other developed states such as Penang, Selangor and Johor. We should pray for the well-being of our state," he said at the handover programme which took place at the Titiwangsa Stadium here tonight.

Also present was Deputy Chairman of the Perantau Anak Pahang Secretariat (MAHASISWA) Datuk Seri Shahaniza Shamsuddin.

Meanwhile, Perantau Anak Pahang Secretariat Administrative Officer Syed Anas Datuk Syed Ali said they had received 52,471 applications this year, but only 5,000 initial registrations were received.

"We will continue this programme and we hope that more Pahang people will register to benefit from this and so that we know how many ‘children’ of Pahang are in Kuala Lumpur," he said.

Meanwhile, a recipient Zuraini Md Zain, 48, who hails from Raub, said the voucher could be used to offset the cost of returning to her hometown this year.

"Alhamdulillah, you can fill up petrol or pay toll. I hope that this programme can continue and if there is more allocation, maybe the number of vouchers can be increased," said the engineer who lives in Taman Melawati.

-- BERNAMA