Senior Malaysian politician Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar gets taste of Lancashire at beloved ie cream parlour
“It was surreal to have somebody like that coming in to visit, and they were lovely. I couldn't believe it, they were just nice people.”
A Chief Minister and senior Malaysian politician swapped the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur for the Lancashire countryside last week when stopping off for a delicious ice cream at Wallings in Cockerham.
Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, chairman of Malaysia's opposition Perikatan National coalition and Chief Minister of Terengganu, visited Wallings with his family last Wednesday.
Mr Samsuri had been in Glasgow watching the Commonwealth games and stopped off at the popular Ice Cream parlour for a sweet treat before heading back home to Malaysia.
Speaking to The Gazette about hosting the prominent politician and his family, Phil Walling, Sales Manager at Wallings, said: “It was surreal to have somebody like that coming in to visit, and they were lovely. I couldn't believe it, they were just nice people.
“They were very easy to talk to and you could really just have a genuine conversation with them. It wasn't really a formal engagement either. He just came in and had some ice cream, and they were quite chilled.
“He tried lots of flavours because obviously he wanted to get a full insight into us, so he just went with little tasters. He had a hot chocolate as well, and they just enjoyed trying everything. It was quite a relaxed visit and everything went really well.
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“My dad, Peter, who's the managing director of the company, took them all down the fields to see the cows and gave them a tour of the farm. He really enjoyed that and had lots of questions. I think he had a bit of an interest in agriculture, which was nice. I think he was just curious and wanted to see where everything came from.”
The visit from Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar is part of Wallings’ wider connection to Malaysia through the Chicken Cottage fast-food franchise. Mr Samsuri’s delegation included representatives from Chicken Cottage, along with other important Malaysian businessmen.
“We're a family business,” Phil added. “We milk our own cows and use that milk for the ice cream- everything we do is homegrown as such.
“I think that's what Mr Samsuri liked about it, because he could actually see the cows and see the whole process behind the ice cream, rather than just coming in and having a scoop.”