Wednesday 21 August 2019

Penang Asian Food & Culture Festival


𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭? Penang Asian Food & Culture Festival
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧? 13-15 September 2019
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞? Gurney Paragon Mall, 1st Avenue, Gurney Plaza, Sunway Carnival Mall, Queensbay Mall

Penang wants Padi Festival in national tourism calendar

Penang wants Padi Festival in national tourism calendar



BUKIT MERTAJAM, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- The Penang government plans to enter the International Padi Festival into the national tourism calender.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said that the event which was entering into its second edition in the state received a very encouraging response and simultaneously proved it could achieve recognition as a national tourism event.

He said that the state government would co-operate with the Penanti State Assemblyman Dr Norlela Ariffin to discuss measures that must be taken to enable the festival to be entered into the national tourism calender.

‘’The uniqueness of the event can lure visitors and tourists. It is also an experience which cannot be easily obtained especially to those staying in the city.

‘’The organisation of this festival is not just for fun because it has a very clear objective especially in deciding the direction and maintaining the agriculture sector especially the planting of padi in the area,’’ he told reporters after launching the Penang International Padi Festival 2.0 themed ‘Padi Ku Warisan Ku Rezeki Ku’, here today.

Chow said that the festival which would be taking place for three days from yesterday was being held at the Kampung Terus Jetty Padi Field, Penanti here, the oldest padi heritage site in the Seberang Perai area, namely, since the 1800.

The festival was being enlivened with numerous programmes including the first straw art sculpture exhibition in Malaysia, catching fish in the padi field, painting of local sceneries by local artists and sales of fruits, vegetables, food and drinks.

Chow also released fish fries and giant prawn seeds in Terus River to balance the eco-system and to provide a future source of income for the fishermen.

Meanwhile, commenting on the demand of the Penang Fishermen’s Association that the Penang government settle the compensation payments to fishermen affected by the Butterworth Outer Ring Road’s (BORR) reclamation project, Chow said that the state government would look into it to determine if the claim had basis.

-- BERNAMA

Tourism Malaysia ties up with Expedia

Tourism Malaysia ties up with Expedia



PUTRAJAYA: Tourism Malaysia has inked a deal with American travel company Expedia Group which will see both sides collaborate to boost tourism promotion to Malaysia.

Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said the partnership with Expedia will help support Malaysia’s target of achieving 30 million tourist arrivals and RM100bil tourist spending by 2020.

“Malaysia has just launched its fifth instalment of the Visit Malaysia series, Visit Malaysia 2020, and this is a timely strategic partnership which will benefit all parties.

“Expedia Group, as many of you would know, has over 200 travel booking websites in more than 70 countries around the world and work with thousands of lodging and flight partners to cater to the differing needs of modern travellers today.

“This partnership will collectively promote travel to Malaysia hence helping us grow our tourism arrival and income, empower our hospitality industry to be equipped with the right tools and services to help them grow their business locally, and be seen as a beacon in the sustainable tourism space, ” said Mohamaddin in his speech at the signing ceremony of the new collaboration, held at his ministry yesterday.

Mohamaddin said one of the agreements between Tourism Malaysia and Expedia Group will be focused on several global campaigns to promote inbound travel from the United States, Australia and Japan to Malaysia.

The three countries are among the biggest points of sale for Expedia Group.

“This partnership will see a joint execution of destination marketing campaigns to spotlight Malaysia’s hidden and unique tourist attractions as well as promote the variety of accommodation to Expedia Group’s 750 million plus monthly visitors globally, ” said Mohamaddin.

The collaboration will also see Expedia Group and Tourism Malaysia exchanging traveller insights, to help better understand tourist behaviours and home tourism strategies in line with the implementation of Visit Malaysia.

Expedia Group senior vice-president of commercial strategy and services Greg Schulze said the company found Malaysia to be a “progressively thinking destination” and was committed to help expose the country to travellers around the world.

“Tourism is an important contributor to Malaysia’s economy, accounting for almost 14.9% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and 3.4 million jobs.

“As a world travel platform, Expedia Group is proud to be an online travel tourism partner to Tourism Malaysia, connecting Malaysia’s tourism industry to millions of travellers in our worldwide network, ” he said.

Among the travel websites under Expedia Group include Expedia.com, Trivago and Hotels.com.

~The Star~

Monday 19 August 2019

Air quality worsens slightly in the country

Air quality worsens slightly in the country

The air quality in Peninsular Malaysia has worsened slightly with Rompin in Pahang Air Pollutant Index (API) readings jumping from “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” zone.

According to Department of Environment (DOE) data, the API recorded in Rompin was at 223 as at 4pm, yesterday.

On Saturday, Rompin’s API was “unhealthy” at 125.

Conditions in Kuala Lumpur remained at moderate levels during the weekend, with the API at between 65 and 67.

In Selangor, Johan Setia saw a slight increase in the API readings.

The reading recorded was at 95 compared to 92 on Saturday.

Other areas in Selangor such as in Banting (82), Petaling Jaya (81), and Shah Alam (83) maintained its “moderate” readings.

The API readings in Kedah and Perlis also worsened from “good” to “moderate”, while Sabah maintained its “good” API readings.

Other places nationwide such as in Negri Sembilan, Johor, Perak, Penang, Kelantan and Terengganu recorded “moderate” API levels.

Meanwhile, in Sarawak, Sri Aman posted an API reading of 252 and generally the haze situation here and in Miri is still bad.

The API reading worsened compared to Saturday which was at 247.

The air quality in SK Kuala Baram 2 station and the Miri Industrial Training Institute station both improved.

SK Kuala Baram 2 station recorded an API reading of 80 from 119, while the Miri Industrial Training Institute station recorded a reading of 161 from 222.

As of yesterday morning, the DOE recorded one “hot spot” (forest fire) in Sarawak

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is good, while 51 to 100 is moderate, 01 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above is deemed hazardous.

The public can also refer to the Department of Environment (DoE) website at or by downloading the MyIPU smartphone app on ‘Google Play’ to get hourly API readings

According to the Asean Specialised Meterological Centre (ASMC) weather and haze outlook posted on Saturday at 6.25pm, it noted that hotspot activities in Sumatra and Kalimantan are likely to persist in the country.

ASMC’s satellite monitoring system has also indicated in recent times that open burning is also coming from that direction.

~News courtesy of The Star~

Thursday 15 August 2019

Botanical Garden eyes UNESCO World Heritage listing

Penang’s Botanical Garden eyes UNESCO World Heritage listing

The Penang government is hopeful that the state will get the distinction of having the fourth botanical garden to be listed under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.

State Housing, Local Government, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said there are three UNESCO-listed botanical gardens worldwide, namely the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, the United Kingdom, and the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden in Brazil.

Jagdeep said what makes Penang’s Botanical Garden stand out is that it is completely natural whereas the others were man-made.

“Even Nigel Taylor, the curator of Singapore Botanic Gardens, said he was very confident that our botanical garden has a big potential to be listed under UNESCO’s World Heritage Site,” he said in a press conference here today.

Jagdeep also hoped that the physical works on the Penang Botanical Garden’s Special Area Plan (SAP) could be kick-started by this year.

The Penang Botanical Garden’s SAP, which was proposed in March 2011 and approved and gazetted on July 4 this year, consists of 25 detailed projects, including seven main projects.

According to Jagdeep, the seven key projects are the construction of a central visitor centre, plant conservation and research centre, Malaysiana Boulevard, nature’s amphitheatre, viewing tower and viewing deck, as well as restoration of garden mall and service yard facilities, nursery and irrigation system.

“For the time being, we are working on developing a timeframe for the key projects, and we would prioritise the 2.35-hectare central visitor centre,” he said.

Penang Botanical Garden curator Dr Saw Leng Guan said the entrance of the garden would be relocated approximately 700 metres away from its original position to the central visitor centre once the project was finished.

Saw said the existing parking space would also be relocated and centralised in the central visitor centre as well.

“Visitors would then be ushered into the garden, which would help in reducing traffic congestion and make it more accessible to the public,” he said.

-- BERNAMA

Thursday 8 August 2019

Hot and dry weather in M'sia until October

Hot and dry weather in M'sia until October, says the weatherman

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Malaysia is expected to experience hot and dry weather with less rainfall until October, says Deputy Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis.

She said apart from Malaysia, neighbouring countries Singapore and Sumatra in Indonesia are expected to experience the same weather pattern.

"We expect to experience a shortage of rainfall with warmer and drier weather this year without the El Nino and La Nina phenomena until October, " she said when asked about the essence of the 21st Technical Working Group (TWG) Meeting and the Ministerial Steering Committee Sub-Region on Cross-border Haze Pollution in Brunei.

She said this when contacted on the Bernama News Channel (BNC) talk showroom programme here Wednesday (Aug 7) night.

Commenting on the meeting, Isnaraissah said the five countries involved had presented measures taken to address fires and haze in their respective countries.

"Among the information shared was to carry out continuous monitoring of weather and hotspots, enforce the law and have the equipment prepared, mobilise human resources and co-ordinate fire-fighting, " she said.

The annual meeting involving four other Asean countries, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, was held to monitor and detail the steps taken in addressing cross-border haze.

The initiative to address the Asean haze problem began following a serious episode of pollution in 1997 that led to the Asean Convention on cross-border haze signed by 10 countries in Kuala Lumpur on June 10, 2002. - Bernama

Tuesday 6 August 2019

Come admire the beauty of orchids in Penang

Come admire the beauty of orchids in Penang

The annual Penang Orchid Show is happening again aimed at promoting the Pearl of the Orient as a place where beautiful orchids are grown.

Organised by the Penang state government and Federation of Malaya Orchid Society (FOMOS), the Penang Orchid Show 2019 will be taking centre stage at the Penang Botanic Gardens from Aug 11-18, 9am-9pm daily.

State tourism development, arts, culture and heritage committee chairman, Yeoh Soon Hin, said: "This event will attract people, especially orchid lovers, to Penang. The event will focus on competitions and a sale of orchids. Orchid judges from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand will be coming together at this grand event," he said at a press conference today.

Another focus will be Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Biological Sciences representatives led by Associate Prof S. Sreeramanan, who will provide information on orchid tissue culture and bio-conservation.

FOMOS organising chairman, Tony Tan, said admission to the event where 600 exotic orchids of 60 different species, classes and hybrids will be found, is free.

"Around 10,000 to 20,000 visitors are expected. For the orchid competition, there will be 60 classes with four major prizes: 'Best Plant of the Show', 'Reserved Best Plant', 'Second Reserved Best Plant' and 'Best Species'," said Tan.

On a different subject, Yeoh told reporters that registration for the Miss Asia Global Malaysia 2019/2020 started today, and that the state government and Miss Asia Global Malaysia Pageant will be announcing the date and venue for preliminary screenings in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Kuching.

Being held for the first time in Penang, it is another opportunity for the state to promote its sights.



The competition is open to female Malaysians aged 18-28, single and are a minimum height of 1.65m (165cm). Register via https://forms.gle/t6TZ5ZQXhukyrLAy8 by Aug 20.

-- BERNAMA

Penang’s 111-year-old Fire Station rebrands as tourism hotspot

Penang’s 111-year-old Fire Station rebrands as tourism hotspot

The Lebuh Pantai Fire and Rescue Station here, one of Malaysia’s oldest fire stations still in operation, has reverted to its signboard structural design first used 111 years ago.

The fire station has rebranded as ‘Central Fire Station 1908’ with large black fonts up front, replacing the previous red signboard and restoring its original infrastructure design.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the signage was changed in accordance with the George Town World Heritage Site Special Area Plan on the initiative of the Beach Street Fire and Rescue Department itself.

“This Lebuh Pantai Fire and Rescue Station Building is an iconic structure classified under Category I of the George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site,” he told reporters after inspecting the new signage here today.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department director Saadon Moktar, who was present, said the rebranding is to capitalise on its tourist appeal by highlighting its status as the first fire station in the state.

Apart from the signage, Saadon said, the shape of the building and some of its features would be maintained to comply with the conditions of the George Town World Heritage Site Special Area Plan.

One of the iconic features of the building’s structural design is its combination of different architectural styles, classical façade merging with its Mughal-style four-storey tower with hints of influences from the Edwardian era of architecture.

He said to save costs, the restoration and preservation works were done mostly on the exterior of the fire station.

-- BERNAMA

Monday 5 August 2019

Haze situation under control despite dry spell

Haze situation under control despite dry spell

The haze situation appears to be under control despite the dry spell as the Air Pollutant Index (API) has not reached unhealthy levels in any parts of Malaysia.

In fact, good air quality was recorded in Kota Tinggi, Johor (API reading 50), Tawau, Sabah (46) and Limbang, Sarawak (47) at 6pm yesterday.

Air quality in other parts of Malaysia was at a moderate level. 

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is good while 51 to 100 is moderate, 101 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above deemed hazardous.

National Weather and Geophysics Operations Centre director Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said the air quality would return to normal soon as Indonesia had succeeded in its aggressive initiative to douse the raging forest fires.

He also noted that the two low-pressure cyclones in the West Pacific and the northern part of South China Sea would further suck the atmospheric moisture.

Several west coast states in the peninsula and Sarawak are also facing the haze following forest fires at six districts in Indonesia over the last four days.

The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) warned that more hotspots could be expected in the first two weeks of August, particularly in the fire-prone provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia, following warmer and drier than average conditions forecast over the southern Asean region.

In the northern Asean region, hotspot activities are expected to remain subdued due to prevailing rainy conditions, according to ASMC.

~News courtesy of The Star~