Additional speakers for Pangkor International Marine Tourism Conference ‘22

 

                    Marina Island, the venue for PIMTC '22 and PTE '22 launch

By Laura Lee

With four days to go before the inaugural Pangkor International Marine Tourism Conference 2022 (PIMTC ‘22) starts, its organiser Perak Tourism Association (PTA) has announced that the event’s opening ceremony on 9 May evening at Marina Island will also witness the launch of Sail Malaysia Passage to the East (PTE) Yacht Rally 2022 aimed at promoting Malaysia by sea.

Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Datuk Seri Dr Santhara will be gracing the PIMTC ’22 opening ceremony-cum-dinner together with other dignitaries such as Perak chairman of the committee for housing, local government and tourism Dato’ Nolee Ashilin Dato’ Mohd Radzi and Cruise Marine Tourism Association Malaysia president Datuk Wira Syed Abdul Rahman Al-Habshi.

There will also be souvenir and special award presentations on that night.

Meanwhile, there has been some more recent changes to the conference’s line-up of speakers. This came about partly due to the postponement of PIMTC dates to 9-10 May from 26-29 March, says PTA coordinator SA Peter.

Apart from the keynote address on 10 May by PIMTC ‘22 advisor Dato’ Seri Mirza Mohammad Taiyab Beg, the full-day conference on 10 May will now have a total of seven speakers instead of five previously announced.

Conference speakers

Earlier speakers such as Italy-based Super Yacht captain Azizah Hanim Kamarudin and One15 Marina group general manager Brian Werner have been replaced by Prakash Reddy and Olivia Ooi.

Prakash, from Indonesia’s Nongsa Point Marina and Resort marina manager, will speak on marina management and organising boating activities for marina clubs while Olivia, Desaru Development Holding One Sdn Bhd general manager (sales and marketing) will update the conference participants on Desaru coastal development and ferry terminal facilities for yachts.

From the Marine Department Malaysia, its director for the northern region, Mohd Hafiz Abdul Majid will be touching on the department’s roles and responsibilities particularly for leisure vessels. He replaces Marine Department director-general Dato Baharin Dato’ Abdul Hamid as a speaker.

Meanwhile, Ts Dr Md Redzuan Zoolfakar and Adren Siow have been added to the speakers’ list. The former, an Associate Professor of Research & Innovation of Universiti Kuala Lumpur’s Malaysian Institute of Marine Engineering Technology, will speak on the role of technology in green leisure vessel design.

Association of Marine Industries of Malaysia honorary secretary Adren, who is also Samudra Shipyard & Engineering Sdn Bhd managing director, will delve on the Blue Economy: The multiplier effect of nautical marine tourism.

The remaining two speakers at PIMTC are Pangkor Marina operations director James Khoo on Managing cruising yachts in a Malaysian marina and its impact on local economy while Sail Malaysia founder Sazli Kamal Basha will touch on the ASEAN cruising agenda: Promoting Malaysia as part of the bigger picture.

Discovering Malaysia

Since PIMTC ’22 will be the first international event for Perak after Malaysia reopened its borders on 1 April, it is opportune that its participants and rally teams go on a sightseeing day trip on 11 May to visit certain parts of the silver state organised by PTA and the Perak state government.

The next morning, the rally teams will set sail from Pangkor Marina to other marine hotspots such as Desaru and Tioman in Peninsular Malaysia and thereafter to East Malaysia.

The rally is expected to arrive at Kuching or Santubong in Sarawak from 16-22 June, around the time of the three-day Rainforest World Music Festival from 17-19 June.

It will then proceed to Miri, Labuan, Tiga Island before arriving in Sabah, stopping over in places such as Kota Kinabalu, Kudat, Turtle Islands, Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tun Sakaran Marine Park before concluding the rally in Tawau.

Geng Wak Long @ Dorsett Grand Subang’s Ramadhan promotion again in 2017

By Laura Lee

 

The main reason I accepted Tourism Selangor’s Ramadhan buffet promotion invitation @ Dorsett Grand Subang was when I discovered that Geng Wak Long would be performing here. I had first come across this local band from Kelantan at the Borneo World Music Exposition and Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching, Sarawak a few years ago.

I heard their performance received encouraging response from the hotel’s patrons who came for its Kampung Selera themed Ramadhan buffet at Melati last year. Glad I caught them this year here. I arrived a bit late and was thus seated in the front row quite close to them but with my back facing them most of the time.

 

Despite my close proximity to the live band, their music was not too loud. I could still enjoy my buka puasa meal with the other invited bloggers and guests who had earlier made a beeline for the buffet spread. Some of them had already dug into the five-star hotel’s signature spicy rich stew-like Gearbox soup made using cattle’s bone marrow.

 

For its Enak-enak Ramadhan and Wonders of Iftar theme this year, an array of local kampung dishes as well as Middle Eastern food and desserts were served.

During our meal, we were informed that model turned actress Mazlina Hasan Nordin, more popularly known as Lana Nordin was dining here with her husband David McKienzie and daughter Gia, who is a year and five months old.

We were granted photo opportunities with her.

Lana Nordin poses for a group pix with Zaimi Shari from Tourism Selangor (far left) and two hotel staff on the far right

This was when I discovered another food section where a huge tent has been set up to accommodate more guests. This was also where the Gearbox soup station and other live action stations were located.

I headed for the Asam Pedas station after the photo shoot. You can choose mackerel, stingray or beef to go with its spicy sauce. I never knew about the beef version before. I tried it but still prefer it cooked with fish. Found the asam sauce too salty for my comfort.

On my way out from Terazza Brasserie, I stopped by the Turkish ice cream corner and asked for two scoops of its thick and chewy dondurma in strawberry and chocolate flavours. This made up for the letdown I had with my Asam Pedas dish. 

The hotel had advanced purchase vouchers at 25% discount from as early as 17 April until 5 June. It can arrange exclusive deals for larger groups for its Ramadhan promotion.  

 

Another thing is children aged between 6 and 12 years old and senior citizens get 50% off its buffer promotion during this holy month.

 

 

 

Penang World Music Festival 2012 sets to rock the Pearl of the Orient

By Laura Lee

The Penang World Music Festival (PWMF) returns this year and promises to be “bigger and better” with a line up of 18 international and local bands offering music genre ranging from blues to salsa and reggae.

They include Maite Hontele from Colombia, Kalja Riddim Klan (Vanuatu), Gus Teja World Music (Bali), Tori Ensemble (South Korea) Wild Marmalade (Australia)and Beoga (Ireland, see pix below).

They will be joined by other international musicians from Africa, Australia, Russia, Mongolia and the Philippines.

Among the local bands are Didit Dinai, Penang Dhol Blasters, Kumpulan Minang Moh Geng Wak Long and my favourite, Aseana Percussion Unit.

PWMF will be staged open air at the Quarry Recreational Park, Botanic Gardens from 30 March to 1 April with the concert starting from 7pm.

The musical workshop will start from 2pm while the Kidzworld workshop will be from 5pm to 6pm. There will also be festival bazaar offering a wide selection of food and beverages, souvenir items, handicrafts and the performers’ CDs for sale.

I’m glad to know the organiser, Penang State Tourism Development and Culture Office has appointed UCSI Communications Sdn Bhd (UComms) as the event management consultant to ensure the smooth running of the festival.

Thanks to UComms communications manager Letitia Samuel, I have received the releases, pictures and media invitation to this year’s event already.

Letitia was formerly from the Sarawak Tourism Board, which started and successfully built up the Rainforest World Music Festival and Miri International Jazz Festival (now rebranded as Borneo Jazz) to be recognised music events globally.

When PWMF was last held three years ago, I could still remember how difficult it was for us media in Kuala Lumpur (KL) to get information on the event or even a response from the tourism officer in charge.

Hard Rock Hotel Penang is the official hotel for the PWMF and will not only be housing all the musicians but the invited media as well during the festival.

A preview show will be held at the hotel on 28 March while on 29 March, the preview will be held at Straits Quay, one of the supporters of PWMF 2012.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be preview held earlier in KL as part of the build-up for the PWMF.

Tickets to the festival can be bought online at www.ticketxpress.com.my for RM90 a day for adult and RM45 a day for children between five and 12 years old.

Three-day tickets are priced at RM220 each for adults and RM120 each for children.

PWMF tickets are also sold at all Discovery Overland Holidays offices (tel: +6 013 3398113) and Penang Tourism Development and Culture Office (tel: +6 016 4110000).

Sarawak Tourism Board Building Brand Value Via Events

Text by Laura Lee, Pix by Suchen SK

While I try to recapture what Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Dato Rashid Khan (pic) shared with us at the media briefing yesterday upon our arrival for the Miri International Jazz Festival (MIJF), I could hear jazz music in the background as the bands tune their instruments and do their sound check ahead of this evening’s performance.

Dato’ Rashid, who is also the chairman of the steering committee, shared with us his strategy of organising events to spur tourism. They include incorporating some of the best corporate practices into government agencies, especially into areas like event management.

He said in the past, the government has provided seed money in the form of grants for such events as RWMF. STB wants to go beyond organising the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) and MIJF.

“We are looking at six additional events that will bring more tourists to the state.”

This will take place by 2011 and will have nothing to do with community events. The new events, all apparently music related, are expected to deliver brand value in the long term like what RWMF and MIJF have done.

They will not be just another government organised event but will be run professionally by experts like its artistic and programme director Randy Raine-Reusch and will have key attractions to make the event big.

Dato’ Rashid said these events must be of high class and world standard as they will be benchmarked against other global events.

“It must do normal things extraordinarily well.”

Why Miri? One of them is to tap on its proximity to Brunei and the foreign nationals who are working and residing there to come to Miri.

Dato’ Rashid is looking at increasing the tourist arrivals to seven million into Sarawak by 2015 under a five-year plan. He said the state’s target for next year is four million tourist arrivals and based his optimism on the cross border traffic from its neighbours like Brunei.

Statistics from Sarawak’s Immigration Department showed a total of 3,280,416 tourist arrivals for 2009, a dip from the 3.61 million reported for 2008.

Dato’ Rashid said Sarawak’s niche would be focused on music, culture and tribal stuff. Plans are afoot to hold these new events during low seasons as this when the private sector require the support most from the government. Such measures will also help to fill up the hotel rooms and contribute to the state’s economic activities.

With tourism’s multiplier effect of almost 12 times, the idea is to organise events that have a sustainable impact where the locals will benefit, he explained.

“The event organiser must also look at the profit and loss. The event should at least break even and not lose money so that we can invest the money to bring in more artistes.”

Dato’ Rashid said STB is exposing its staff to leadership development and has appointed two project managers to run the RWMF and MIJF.

Angelina P Bateman, STB former administration and finance manager, who has been made director of corporate communications and governmental relations, will be MIJF project director while Benedict Jimbau, STB director of marketing will be in charge of the RWMF, which will be held from 9-11 July.

Dato’ Rashid added that the governance process would be looked at to ensure that risk management and environmental issues would be addressed in 2011.

“We do not want to see plastic bottles all over the place.”

MIJF should create an ambience of festivity for the city of Miri rather than be localised in one venue. This, he said are some of the directions and strategic approaches that will be adopted for the forthcoming events.

“We want to make it happen and have asked the hoteliers to reflect the rainforest ambience for the RWMF for at least one to two weeks so that the whole city of Kuching can feel that it is a big happening.”