13Sep

TAR Marine Park top attraction

By PAUL MU KUALA LUMPUR: The islands tour to the Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) Marine Park in Kota Kinabalu is the most popular destination among the Chinese, Taiwanese and Koreans tourists to Sabah. Last year alone, a total of 564,330 visits were recorded, according to Sabah Tourism Board (STB) statistics. The next popular spot was Poring Hot Spring attracting (416,572 visitors), followed by Kinabalu National Park (304,905), Tun Sakaran Marine Park (163,183), Lok Kawi Wildlife Park (142,519), Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary (120,529) and Sipadan Island (43,717). The Sabah eco-tourism continues to beckon the arrivals from China as it has increased by 44.2 per cent to 300,103 visitors during the first six months this year compared to the same period last year. The growth from the South Koreans arrivals also remain strong with up to 17.2 per cent to 162,276 visitors despite a decline of 11.9 per cent to 26,250 people from the Taiwanese, Senator Datuk Yong Wui Chung was told during the Dewan Negara sitting recently. Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Mohamaddin Ketapi also told the House that his ministry is working with STB to organise various tour packages to cater for charter flights from East Asia which is popular in Sabah. “From January to June this year, Sabah has received 151 charter flights carrying 20,532 tourists from China and one charter flight from Japan. “Tourist arrivals from China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan via charter flights have increased by 273 per cent to 20,652 persons this year compared to 5,504 persons for the same period last year,” he disclosed. Other promotions include taking part in overseas tourism exhibitions such as the International Tourism Bourse (ITB)-Berlin; World Travel Mart (WTM)-London; Destination Show-London; Vakantiebeurs-Amsterdam; Matka-Helsinki; and Sabah Roadshow-Australia. At home, it has organised mega familiarisation trips for media and industry players to introduce the attractions in Sabah; advertising campaigns for the domestic and international markets; and overall promotion of inbound tourism. An advertising budget of RM110 million was allocated to promote the Malaysia Tourism for 2018, he added. To further boost the community-based tourism focusing on homestay programmes, he said his ministry has identified eight eco-tourism clusters in Sabah under the National Ecotourism Plan (NEP) 2016-2025. They are Kota Kinabalu-Papar-Beaufort-Klias-Kuala Penyu-Menumbok-Sipitang-Long Pasia; Sandakan-Kinabatangan; Kota Kinabalu-Kota Belud-Kota Marudu-Kudat; Kota Kinabalu-Tambunan-Crocker Range Park-Keningau-Tenom; Kota Kinabalu-Tamparuli-Kundasang-Ranau; Maliau Basin-Imbak Canyon; Danum Valley-Tabin (Lahad Datu); and Tawau-Semporna-Mabul-Sipadan-Kunak.   Source: New Sabah Times
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13Sep

Sabah’s first-ever week-long visual arts festival Oct 27

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will have its first ever week-long visual arts festival soon, thanks to Visual Communication Association KK (VCA KK) and Salt x Paper Stationery & Gifts who have teamed up to organise the festival dubbed as North Borneo Design Week (NBDW). The event will be held from Oct 27 until Nov 2 at Riverson, here aimed at fostering the growth of the state capital’s creative industry as well as to position Kota Kinabalu as a strategic creative hub to connect countries in the East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) through the showcase of Malaysia’s creative industry. “This week-long event aims to promote and elevate the local arts and design through a wide range of activities such as artisan markets, art exhibitions, workshops and design talks by prominent speakers in the art and design industry,” said Aaron Lam, the owner of Salt x Paper Stationery & Gifts. Aaron explained that the big scale art festival would feature over 100 creative vendors including local artists and some from Kuala Lumpur, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, France, USA and more at the artisan market to showcase their creations. “The creative artworks include fine art, art & crafts, handmade body care products, jewelleries & accessories, home decorations and many more,” he said. Meanwhile, VCA KK president Noah Lee said the event would be an ‘eye opener’ for Sabahans. “Design weeks or design festivals are held regularly all over the world. Sabah’s first ever design week will be an eye opener for local creative practitioners as professionals from all over the world are invited to share about their respective fields, vice versa from our local creative industry to the public,” Noah said. As for the workshops, Noah highlighted that the organizers had invited local and overseas artists, such as Hong Yi (known as Red) and Chua Soon Min (known as Katak) to conduct master classes and share their knowledge through design talks in order to raise the standards of local creative practitioners and make a mark on the global stage. Showing support for the upcoming event, Kota Kinabalu MP, Chan Foong Hin has contributed RM10,000 while Luyang Assemblyman Phoong Jin Zhe sponsored RM2, 000. According to Chan, although Sabah tourism relies on its natural assets, the arts and culture play a major role by adding value to it. “By developing the arts and culture and encouraging creative entrepreneurship, we are building a good and diversified image of the state and leave a unique impression to visiting tourists. Phoong also expressed that tourists come to Sabah not just for its well-known natural tropical beauty and local delicacies, but if presented with Sabah’s local artworks, clothing, handicrafts, it will be a major contribution to Sabah’s tourism. Further details on North Borneo Design Week and tickets for Design Talks and Workshops are available on www.nbdesignweek.com.   Source: New Sabah Times
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13Sep

Shoot for the stars in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Things are looking up for the Land Below the Wind as it has been named as one of the must-go places for stargazers or astronomers. For instance, the travel site TripZilla in a posting six months ago listed Sabah as among the nine best places for stargazing in Asia. Another site, #HHWT, which stands for Have Halal Will Travel, put up a posting last year on “Asia’s Top 10 Magical Stargazing Spots Will Leave You Starstruck”, and Sabah was on the list. Sabah Tourism, Art and Culture Ministry director Ag Ahmad Abu Zaki said the skies of Sabah were still clear enough and free from light pollution, which was why it had an advantage.
“Tourism players, especially those in the interior and outskirts, need to grab this chance to promote stargazing to the world,” he said.
Ahmad said the acknowledgement of Sabah as one of the best places for stargazing in Asia had also boosted the state’s potential in astronomy. As part of the ministry’s efforts to introduce astronomy to industry players in Sabah, it recently organised a course on astronomy at Usukan Cove in Kota Belud. The three-day course organised together with other related agencies was to introduce participants to the wonders in the sky. “We teach them to understand and identify stars and other objects in the sky before capturing and editing the images,” Ahmad said. He said the 30 participants comprising photographers and media personnel, among others, were eager to learn about the Milky Way. Participants woke up as early as 3am and stayed up late just to get the best images. Among some of the objects seen were constellations such as Orion, Scorpius, Taurus, Canis Major, Pleiades and light pillars. Tourism Malaysia director for Sabah, Jamilah Abdul Halim, said the agency always supported unique and creative tourism products. “There are actually quite a huge number of astronomy enthusiasts. And they are also people who love taking pictures,” Jamilah said. Source: The Star Online
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12Sep

DCM urges film makers to promote Sabah through movie production

KOTA KINABALU: The surge of interest in Sabah displayed by movie makers augurs well for tourism promotion efforts, said Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew. Speaking to reporters at the Sabah screening of RISE Inikalilah on Sunday, she said : “As a minister in charge of tourism, I support and encourage more Malaysian film makers to come to Sabah for more home-grown production of movies such as the remarkable RISE Inikalilah. “We have talked about ecotourism, adventure tourism, medical tourism, historical tourism, sports tourism, golf tourism, war tourism and what have you, and now we have a relatively new dimension – promoting Sabah through movie making, yet another mode of wooing more tourists to the State.” Saying she has met with producers from Peninsular Malaysia, China and Hong Kong of late, Liew, who is also Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, hoped the media would highlight the work of the film makers. The 100-minute film produced by WebTVAsia was screened for the minister, ministry officials, producer Fred Chong’s teachers who have made him who he is today, his classmates and other invited guests. Also present was Luyang assemblyman Ginger Phoong. Liew urged all Malaysians in Sabah not to miss the chance to watch this movie when it is screened on Malaysia Day (September 16). She said it is a reminder of what Malaysians and Sabahans in particular went through under the previous government, adding it was a very difficult time, especially for PKR in Sabah, but thank God, they succeeded. On a personal note, the minister said the movie brought back memories of her 20-year political struggle dating back to 1999 when PKR spread its wings to Sabah and she contested the now defunct Gaya parliamentary seat on the party’s ticket in 2002. Liew described the struggle as a long and tortuous one for justice and true democracy to prevail, and above all, for good governance for the people. “RISE Inikalilah is a historical movie because it catches the events prior to May 9 this year. It marks the birth of a new nation, a new Malaysia after 61 years of Barisan Nasional (BN) rule. “It shows the euphoria on the night of May 9 following the unprecedented electoral victory when the people spoke out loud and clear for the ultimate change of government,” she said. Watching the unfolding of events in the movie, Liew became emotional “as if I re-lived those days when we were the Opposition and subjected to political persecution.” “I couldn’t help it when I viewed what happened, especially what the previous regime did to us. I was directly involved in the pioneering years and it was a long hard journey for us to finally overthrow the BN government,” she added. Earlier, Chong said the “real heroes” are the people who had fought for so many years for the country and Sabah in particular. “This special film is a tribute to the real heroes here,” he said. As a Sabahan, he is proud to bring back a very patriotic film about our country and show it to Sabahans. “What happened is that we just had the biggest historical event ever in Malaysia which was the 14th General Election (GE14). As a film maker, I wanted to document this momentous moment through a film. “But I do not want to make it too political at the same time, so I created multiple Malaysian characters to show how ordinary Malaysians from different walks of life actually came together and created history for the country. “So that is what this film is about,” he said. According to Chong, after the film was shot, there were comments that this Malaysian film somehow forgot about East Malaysia (as usual). “For this reason, I created a very important character in the film, especially for Sabah. At the same time, I got my friend Katak Chua (president of the Kota Kinabalu Film and Video Association (KKFVA) to shoot additional footage in Kota Kinabalu.” He also brought in Mark, one of the members of the cast, saying the story will not be complete with a foreign character “to see what Malaysia is all about during this historical moment (GE14).”   Source: Borneo Post Online
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12Sep

Lantern parade back at Gaya Street on Sept 29

KOTA KINABALU: The long anticipated lantern parade will be back at Gaya Street on September 29. The event is jointly organized by the United Sabah Chinese Communities Association of Kota Kinabalu (USCCAKK), Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK), Kota Kinabalu MP and Likas assemblyman office. USCCAKK president Datuk Susan Wong, together with Mayor Datuk Yeo Boon Hai, made personal inspection of the venue at Gaya Street to ensure that the mooncake carnival and lantern parade would be successful. She said the association had decided to adorn Gaya Street with lanterns before the Malaysia Day celebration on September 16 to spread the spirit of the Mid-Autumn Festival. “The event is not only a showcase of Chinese culture, but also an attraction to lure foreign tourists, especially Chinese visitors, to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival abroad in Sabah,” she said. While on the subject, Wong also said that the cash prizes for the lantern competition have been increased to encourage more schools, associations and members of the public to take part in the lantern parade. Champion of the USCCAK category will receive RM1,000 cash prize, followed by RM800 and RM500 for the second and third place winners respectively. There are also three consolation prizes of RM100 each. The association is also offering three RM200 cash prizes to lantern parade participants who don Chinese attire. The organizers have created an award for the largest team to encourage more participation from USCCAKK member associations as well. Participants must ensure that their lanterns are movable either by carrying their lanterns, placing the lantern on a dolly or even atop a 1.5-tonne lorry. There is no size limit on the lanterns. Meanwhile, the cash prizes for the Open category remain unchanged. Nonetheless, the organizer has added three new awards, namely, the best dressed, best design and largest parade team for this category. Wong urged other Chinese associations in Kota Kinabalu to take part in the lantern parade. “The event is a great platform to promote our Chinese culture and the multiracial spirit of Sabah,” she added.   Source: Borneo Post Online
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