KOTA KINABALU, Aug 13 — AirAsia boss Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has hopped on the latest photo trend in Kota Kinabalu, taking a photo in front of a shuttered Maybank branch in the city centre here.
The maverick entrepreneur was in the vicinity at the Sabah Tourism Board office along Gaya street when the subject of the puzzling trend was brought up.
Fernandes sportingly offered to go to the spot, less than a block away.
“I woke up this morning and saw this on my Instagram. I’m here to continue this virality,” he said.
Like many others, he said he was puzzled as to why the random street corner and sign had gone viral, but that he was game for continuing the trend.
“Anything that promotes Sabah is good for me,” he added as he posed for photos.
Fernandes is in Kota Kinabalu to receive an award from Sabah Tourism Board for his contribution to the tourism industry.
AirAsia is credited with bringing over half of the total number of tourists to Sabah since its two-decade inception, including many Chinese cities.
The photo trend first started on Chinese social media Xiaohongshu when Chinese influencers travelling in Sabah took the photo and uploaded it onto the platform.
Soon, many tourists started doing the same and it became a random trend, much to the confusion of Sabahans.
The Maybank branch has been closed for years but the signboard remains.
Sabah’s DAP MP Datuk Chan Foong Hin had also gone to the site to speak to tourists and found out that the bright yellow colour of the Maybank sign and the location of the signboard at an intersection was attractive.
