11 students and 4 teachers of CBSE and Cambridge along with 2 members of the AMMA Foundation visited the Parliament of Malaysia. The students and teachers were privileged to witness a parliament session scheduled at 11:30 am in November 2018. Before visiting the August House or the "Dewan Rakyat", the students and teachers were taken on a tour of the building and were briefed on the functioning of the parliament and its history by YB Ahmad Fahmi bin Mohamed Fadzil, the Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai. He also discussed the vision and goals for the New Malaysia, which included increasing transparency of the government and stabilizing the economy of the country. We were also welcomed by Dr. Maszlee Malik, the Minister of Education and YB Gobind Singh Deo, the Minister of Communications and Multimedia.

When we walked in the "Dewan Rakyat", we were awe struck by its rustic infrastructure and its facilities. The Parliament discussed important topics like budget allocations for the Health Ministry and the Seafield Sri Mariamman Temple debacle. Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the Home Minister discussed the steps taken by the government to pacify the protestors at Seafield. Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad addressed the Seafield issue by stressing that the government will take stern action against anyone who played with racial sentiments and the violent protest at Seafield is a serious act of crime. He also emphasized that Malaysians need to respect each other’s culture, beliefs and traditions because Malaysia is a multiracial society and the safety of the country is not just the responsibility of the government but also of the people or the "Rakyat". His speech was well received not just by the members of the government but also by the members of Opposition. The students were enthralled during this visit. It was a great opportunity to understand the role of the parliament in a democracy. We look forward to such events in the future.