ALOR SETAR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad used to sell cendol and pisang goreng (banana fritters) with his friends less than 1km from where he was born.

He would help out at the stall during the Pekan Rabu or Wednesday market that still exists to this day.

There are children of old traders there who remember Dr Mahathir being one of them.

Songkok trader Sardi Dahar, 60, said the Prime Minister could not be separated from Pekan Rabu, a market place where its old building had been replaced by a new complex in Jalan Tunku Ibrahim.

“He would stop by the market and visit his friends each time he returned to Alor Setar. He has many friends here.

Long friendship: Che Aman said he had known Dr Mahathir for about 40 years.

“During the Japanese occupation in Malaya, he helped his friends by selling cendol and pisang goreng because he was unable to continue his study.

“The Koperasi Pekan Rabu Alor Setar Bhd faxed him a birthday greeting to his office in Putrajaya today (yesterday),” he said.

Sardi said Dr Mahathir was a regular customer of his late father Dahar Dato who passed away some 20 years ago.

He said the Prime Minister still supported him after he took over the business.

“I made a special songkok for him, an improvised version of the one made by my late father and he liked it very much.

“I named it ‘StyleTUN’, and he gave permission for his picture to be printed on the songkok box.

“Every year, Tun M (Mahathir) would buy two songkok from my shop and I have lost count of how many he had bought from me over the years,” he said.

Rice seller Che Aman Hamid, 66, said he had known Dr Mahathir for about 40 years.

Part of history: Dr Mahathir’s birth house in Alor Setar is a living museum.

“Almost every year, he would come here to buy cookies with his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali.

“I used to cook and send traditional cookies to him by flight to Kuala Lumpur.

“He dislikes fish but likes to eat daging, sotong and limpa (spleen),” he said.

Dr Mahathir turned 93 yesterday.

His birth house at 18, Lorong Kilang Ais, off Jalan Pegawai here, is a living museum but is closed to public for upgrading and building preservation projects by National Archives.

He grew up there until he got married in 1956 and moved to his own house in Titi Gajah.

The house has a traditional veranda and is surrounded by flowering plants and trees.

Several traditional-style buildings were built in the vicinity a few years ago to display information on Dr Mahathir and his family, besides other exhibits which highlight his medical and political career.