Couple earn RM6,000 selling good luck plants

By Olivia Miwil - February 3, 2019 @ 8:25pm

A couple here have their hands full with the advent of Chinese New Year. Pic by NSTP/MALAI ROSMAH TUAH

KOTA KINABALU: A couple here have their hands full with the advent of Chinese New Year.

Toudin Kohoi, 50, from Kampung Kibunut in Penampang near here, said they have been supplying “auspicious” plants to vendors at the central market here since Thursday.

“We distribute thousands of cuttings of the plants and earn about RM6,000 during the festival season.

“These cuttings - lemongrass, pamelo leaves and sweet flag leaves - are boiled in water and used for bathing on the eve of Chinese New Year,” he said, when met at the Chinese New Year Market at Segama here.

Toudin and his wife Emma Gakui, 49, both farmers, are selling stalks of the plants at RM2 each.

“These plants take about a year to be harvested and they only grow on fertile soil.

“Besides getting rid of bad luck, bathing with the plants is good for health,”said Toudin, whose family had been selling the auspicious cuttings for the past 20 years.

The Chinese New Year night markets are held concurrently at Segama, Lido, Metro Town and Foh Sang near here.

There are more than 1,000 stalls and food trucks selling various items such as fruits, traditional Chinese food, and decorations.