From left, James, Penny, Cooper (second right) and Lee enjoying the fish noodles and congee at Kuo Man Restaurant manned by one of the co-owners, Kenji Chu (standing).
KOTA KINABALU (June 30): It was a stroll down memory lane for Sabah-born Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong as she reminisced about her time with her father, Datuk Francis Wong, over breakfast at Kuo Man Restaurant in Sunny Garden here on Thursday.
Accompanied by her younger brother, James, Penny said her family used to patron the family-run coffee shop regularly for breakfast or brunch.
They were served seafood congee, noodles with fish slices and fish paste (yu wat), stuffed tofu and ham chim peng (fried savoury dough) by Kenji Chu, the co-owner and second-generation operator of the shop that has been established for 45 years.
The siblings said their father would have congee at Kuo Man Restaurant, after going to the fish market.
Penny spends time with the KIS students.
When Penny was back in Kota Kinabalu, her father would take her to the wet market as early as 5am in search for fresh seafood. It was a way for their father to spend meaningful one-on-one time with his children.
“He (Francis) got to have fresh fish. It can’t be fish that has been laying around. So we go to the wet market,” Penny recalled.
She said the coffee shop has brought back a lot of memories for her.
“It is the first time I am here without my father actually,” she said.
Francis, a prominent local architect, is currently living in Australia.
Penny has praised the food at Kuo Man Restaurant as ‘very good’ upon tasting the seafood congee, which she said was the best food she has had in Sabah in the last two days.
She continued her visit to Kinabalu International School (KIS) where she had a brief chat with the students and teachers.
It was learned that Penny had studied in the school from Year 1 to 3 at age five to eight. The present school building near Bukit Padang was designed by her father, Francis, while the office was later revamped by James.
When asked by the students, Penny admitted that her ‘favourite subject’ at school was running and swimming, and admitted that she started studying hard when she went to Australia.
On why she became a politician, she said it was to have a sense of purpose in life.
“Coming from Malaysia to Australia at that time was quite hard because we weren’t as diverse as we are now … that was in 1976. That experience was different. And I wanted to try and change things.
“I think most of us try to find things in life that gives us a sense of purpose, whether it is teaching or designing buildings. And it is important to have a sense of purpose.”
Penny also said she did not have a chance to visit Mount Kinabalu, Tanjung Aru Beach and her family home during this trip.
But she has scaled Mount Kinabalu an impressive seven times in the past.
Later, Penny and her entourage went to Lido Square where she was warmly received by The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) president Tan Sri Dr T.C. Goh, JP, who is also the president of the Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS).
Also present were Deputy Secretary of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Katrina Cooper and the Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia, Dr Justin Lee.