HULU TERENGGANU: Sulaiman Yassin was invited for the Youth Day celebrations in the state long before the infamous ‘slapping’ incident at a recent National Transformation (TN50) programme dialogue session.
Terengganu youth, sports and human resources committee chairman Datuk Rozi Mamat said that preparations had been made some time back to invite Sulaiman, better known as Mat Over, to be a guest speaker at the ‘Santai Bersama Mat Over’ session.
The event was held before Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman officiated at the Youth Day celebrations at Kampung Kuala Menjing’s soccer field on Saturday.
“Sulaiman is a local-born and a regular face at public events, where he is a hit with his humorous antics at ceremonies.
“It is unfortunate that he was involved in the recent ‘slapping’ incident, which has created a public fuss. Otherwise, we had no qualms with his presence, which went peacefully,” said Rozi.
Actor-comedian Sulaiman, 65, was involved in a scuffle with movie producer Datuk David Teo at a TN50 dialogue with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at Seri Perdana in Putrajaya, last Wednesday.
At the event, Sulaiman, clad in a red T-shirt entertained youths at about 2pm.
He also crooned a few songs, including his latest single ‘Zatini dan Rozita’, which kept the audience in stitches.
Sulaiman, who is from Hulu Terengganu, was much sought after by eager fans who wanted to have their photographs taken with the comedian. He stayed on until 5.30pm.
When asked for his reaction regarding the ‘slapping’ incident, Sulaiman merely stated that the matter had been resolved.