MUHYIDDIN'S TWO-DAY WHIRLWIND VISIT TO SABAH

WALKABOUT.....Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin at a coffee shop along Beach Street. He is accompanied by Chief Minister Musa Aman and Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Yee Moh Chai.

By : ELAINE MAH

DESPITE the unrelenting rain and a busy schedule, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin took some time off to meet the Chinese community on Beach Street in the central business district of Kota Kinabalu today.

Accompanied by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman and Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr. Yee Moh Chai, Muhyiddin, who is on a two-day visit to Sabah, visited and exchanged greetings with shopkeepers and the general public on  the street.

One of the shops Muhyiddin visited was the Yin Shu Thong Medical Hall, a Chinese traditional medicine shop that has been around for 50 years. Its owner, Lai Yau Leong inherited the shop from his father some 30 years ago. It was his first meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister.

“He is very friendly and appears caring and warm.,” Lai told Insight Sabah reporters.

He said Muhyiddin was very interested in the bird’s nest that he sells, along with other medicinal food items such as dried mushrooms and seaweed.

EXPLAINING.... Chinese medicine shop owner Lai Yau Leong(left) explaining to Deputy Prime Minister Muhyddin Yassin and Chief Minister Musa Aman on the medicinal properties of bird's nest.

“He asked me where I got my bird’s nest, what the differences are in terms of types and grading, the  nutritional values and how to prepare it,” Lai recalled.

Lai said he could tell Muhyiddin a lot if he had enough time but only told him that he procured his bird’s nest from the Chief Minister Musa Aman’s hometown of Sandakan and that the product has featured in Chinese gastronomic medical history for well over 400 years. He said the bird’s nest is believed to possess a high nutritional value, and is high in protein.

Muhyiddin's next meet-the-people stop would be Kuala Penyu.  From there he would proceed to Penampang to open the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Congress. before heading back to Kuala Lumpur in the evening. (Insight Sabah)