"It made my day" is the phrase which can best describe the feelings today of farmer Piah Amil, trader Linah Justin, village headman Dullah Kandihong and ex-policeman Abdullah Antobon.

They had what they believe was the "once in a lifetime" opportunity of being in the company of their prime minister, Najib Abdul Razak, who went on a walkabout at Tamu Ground here.

Najib, who was accompanied by Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and several community leaders, arrived at about 8.30 am and walked around exchanging greetings with the traders and visitors, many of whom lined up to shake the prime minister's hand.

Even as the leaders sat down to have a hearty breakfast of "makanan kampung" (village food) comprising also sweet potato and boiled corn and groundnuts - all of which are produced by the local farmers - people coming to the weekly market came over to pose for photographs with the prime minister whom many of them have hitherto seen only on television.

"I have been here from 6 am. I was unable to get close to the prime minister yesterday when he opened the Sabah Handicraft Centre. There were too many people. I am happy that I was able to shake hands with him today," said Piah, 50.

Piah, a farmer from Kampung Koritan located between Tenom and Keningau, praised Najib for having taken time off from his busy schedule to be with the people, particularly the farmers.

Linah, 54, a trader at Tamu Ground, said she knew about a week ago that Najib would visit the traders at the market.

She came to the market with her agricultural produce, such as " sayur manis " (sweet vegetable), " pucuk ubi " (cassava shoots) and " labu " (pumpkin), at 3 am as usual.

PM promise to solve problems

After selling of her produce to wholesalers by 4 am, she whiled away her time helping the other traders until the prime minister arrived.

"Look at me. I am wearing this T-shirt with the words "I Love PM". I am waiting for him. When the PM arrived at the Keningau airport yesterday, I could not shake his hand as I was tasked with beating the gong.

"Even at the opening of the Sabah Handicraft Centre, I was unable to exchange greetings with him because of the huge crowd. I was able to shake hands with him today. I have only seen him on TV but today, like the English say, it was live," said Linah, who is the elder sister of Bingkor state assemblyman Justin Guka.

Dullah, 80, headman of Kampung Lintuhun Baru, Sook, had come to see the prime minister to convey a problem - more than 200 settlers in his village had yet to get their land titles although they had applied 30 years ago.

"I showed the prime minister the appeal letter and he told me not to worry," said Dullah who was seated next to Najib at the breakfast table.

Dullah said he wanted to frame a poster of Najib which the prime minister had signed for him.

Ex-policeman Abdullah, 78, of Kampung Tuaran, who was at Tamu Ground from 6 am, kept saying " bagus, bagus, bagus " (good, good, good) when asked about the prime minister's visit.

- Bernama