Shouts of “Tan Sri, I love you” and “Hero Malaya” were heard at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) when suspended Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin arrived this evening.

The passionate supporters, comprising mostly of Umno and MCA members, greeted the former deputy prime minister after he touched down from a four-day visit to Vietnam.

Among the crowd was a petite woman in pink who forced her way through, hugged Muhyiddin and said: “Tan Sri, I love you.”

Then, a male voice was heard saying “We are waiting for the return of hero Malaya”.

The crowd carried banners with the message “We support Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin” and “Long live Muhyiddin Yassin”.

Among the leaders at the airport were Johor exco member and Pagoh Umno division deputy chief Ismail Mohamed, Pagoh MCA division chief Lim Pey Hen and Gabungan Ketua Cawangan Malaysia (GKCM) vice-president Rushdan Mohamed.

Meanwhile, Gabungan Selamatkan Malaysia president Mazlan Aliman and his deputy Suhaizan Kajat handed over a red T-shirt with the words “save Malaysia” to Muhyiddin.

The group performed a short prayer before leaving the airport.

Muhyiddin left for Vietnam on Feb 27 to attend a forum.

Asked for his comment, Ismail said people will be angry with Umno over Muhyiddin's suspension.

“Supreme council's decision would not unite the party. People will be more angry with Umno. They should be careful when making such decisions,” he said.

Ismail also rebutted Umno leaders who said the party will not be affected by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad leaving the party .

“Mahathir has his own supporters in the party. That's why I said every decision Umno makes will impact the party itself. We love the party and we are concerned,” he said.

Ismail however said he will not quit as he loves Umno.

Meanwhile, Rushdan said GKCM has decided in an emergency meeting last night that they will not quit the party like Mahathir did.

“Mahathir is our patron. When he left Najib's party, many of us wanted to follow his footsteps,” he said.

“But, we held a meeting last night in Port Dickson and decided that we will not leave the party. We have to fight and voice out from within the party," Rushdan said.

He claimed GKCM enjoys strong support from few thousand branches, but only 500 of them can openly make their stand clear while majority of the grassroot leaders with government positions can't support the coalition openly.

Meanwhile, Rushdan denied that GKCM had instructed its members to hang BN flags upside down.

However, he said some Umno members had done so following the removal of Mukhriz Mahathir as Kedah menteri besar as a sign of protest after their views were ignored.

He claimed that about 100 Umno members and supporters were at the airport to welcome Muhyiddin.

Lim said Muhyiddin's suspension showed the nation's biggest party can no longer tolerate dissent and would want to get rid of those who do so.

“This would affect the structure of BN,” he said.

Lim added that the suspension was unfair as Muhyiddin had served the people well.

When met at the airport, Mazlan said he and nine others came to show solidarity.

He hoped Muhyiddin will speak at the “save Malaysia” talk slated to be held in Muar on March 25.

“We hope that he will be ready to speak then,” Mazlan added.