YALA, Thailand: The Penang Gelugor Club was selected to represent Malaysia at the 9th Malay Day festival here on Friday.
Apart from Thailand and Malaysia, the three-days festival also saw participants from Indonesia.
The Penang Gelugor club consists of 45 members headed by its president Datuk Abdullah Mohd Sultan.
Abdullah said it was an honour for him and the members to be selected to join the event.
"We received the invitation from the Thai government recently and are really proud to join this event as Malaysia's representative.
"We are happy that we can show our Malay culture, wear the baju melayu and baju kurung during the parade while flying the Jalur Gemilang and singing the Malaysian popular patriotic songs.
"Despite being tired from the travelling, the experience has been worth it," he told Malaysian reporters when met after the event on Friday night.
Abdullah said this was the first time the Penang Gelugor club represented Malaysia to the Malay Day@Yala event.
'"We will definitely join again if there is an invitation. For us, this is an opportunity to introduce our Malay culture to the people here and at the same time, it will help promote the tourism industry," he said.
Also present at the event were Consul General of Malaysia in Songkhla, Thailand, Ahmad Fahmi Ahmad Sarkawi; Yala Governor Ampon Pongsuwan and Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia in Songkhla , Suargana Pringganu.
The event which ended today, featured Malay culture from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
It started with a cultural parade, the elephant parade and cultural performances from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand which aimed to highlight the cultural harmony.
Meanwhile, Ampon in his welcoming speech said the good co-operation given by Malaysia and Indonesia had made the programme a success event.
"We are sharing the same culture which is Malay culture and l am happy that this 9th edition for Malay Day@Yala event was success.
"Apart from promoting the culture, it will also help bring our relationship more closer," he said.
Ahmad Fahmi said Malaysia would always give its support to the programme.
"This is among the efforts made to further preserve Malay traditions for future generations," he added.