Cat steals show as ‘special guest’ during minister’s visit to Sekinchan fishing village

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 — A feline has taken Malaysian social media by storm after it was pictured at a local minister’s meeting at a fishing village.

The cat was pictured as ‘part’ of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s entourage as they were visiting local fishing villages along the coast of Selangor like Sekinchan, Sabak Bernam, Sungai Besar and Tanjung Karang.

Saifuddin visited these districts to get a deeper or better understanding of how the supply chain works from getting the fish from these villages to the market to help make the lives of the fishermen easier.

Malam ini saya serta pegawai-pegawai kementerian bertolak ke Sekinchan, Selangor bagi melawat jeti-jeti pendaratan ikan pada awal pagi esok untuk memahami secara lebih mendalam rantaian bekalan ikan dari jeti sehingga ke pasaran. pic.twitter.com/mjkcobSt15

— Saifuddin Nasution (@saifnasution) November 24, 2019

In a post on his official Twitter account, Saifuddin, who is also Kulim Bandar Baharu MP, said that he also visited these districts to speak with the people at the grassroots level and hear about their problems.

However, included in the post was a cheeky photo of a seemingly annoyed cat, which was seen sitting in on the dinner meeting on a jetty that stole the hearts of Twitter users as they were quick to pile on jokes about Saifuddin’s “special guest”.

Many social media users quipped that Saifuddin’s entourage was so big that it even included a cat, while others said that the cat was merely there as a “quality control supervisor”.

Social media users couldn't get enough of the cat. — Twitter screengrab

“I hope you take note of the opinions and suggestions made by Mr. Cat for the survival of the country’s fishing industry,” wrote one user.

“Thank God, even the complaints from the representative of the cat community was taken into account, although it doesn’t look too happy,” wrote another user.

Other users also joked that the cat was yawning because it was displeased with the length of the meeting or that wasn’t too happy about the quality of fish that was on display, with some even asking Saifuddin to give it some fish as a treat.

His post has since gotten over 700 shares, with nearly 2,000 likes.

Jokes aside, many also praised Saifuddin for his “interactive” post and for caring about the peoples’ problems by making field visits.

Some users praised the minister for his caring attitude in taking the time to speak to the locals at the fishing villages. — Twitter screengrab

“This is being worthy of being called a minister. Working for the people, caring about their hardships and looking for solutions to solve their problems,” wrote a user.

Apart from hearing the problems of the local fishermen, Saifuddin also stopped by at a local mosque to perform evening prayers with some of the locals, as well as take time to celebrate the hard work of the Village Community Management Council and Parliamentary Conservation Coordinator.