Saxophonist leaves Singaporean PM bemused
KOTA KINABALU: Musician Phillipus Jani met a famous man this morning but he didn't really know who that person was.
Phillipus was playing his homemade bamboo saxophone serenading top leaders attending the 26th Asean Summit at the Kuala Lumpur Convention centre when Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong approached him.
Lee went on to take his photograph posted it on his Facebook page.
He wrote; " Met this saxophonist entertaining the Asean leaders while we were waiting to start the meeting. He looked good, and sounded good.
“So I snapped his pic and chatted.”
“Our conversation went, ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Singapore. Where are you from?’ ‘Sabah’.”
Phillipus said he knew the man may have been important because he was told he would be entertaining top Asean leaders.
"He approached me while I was playing the song 'Widuri' and spoke to me in Malay after I finished the song," said the Kadazandusun musician who was clad in a traditional "moludu" when he was serenading the VIPs.
"After he told me he was from Singapore I told him I was there last month. He told me to come again and said I would be most welcome to return."
Phillipus is a popular musician who is renowned for his ability to make musical instruments from bamboo like the saxophone he used at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre where the summit was held.
He hails from Kampung Kapayan Lama in Tambunan and is regularly featured in many events and shows across the state and even the country.
