I Have Some Pointers for Tourism Malaysia

I’m lucky to have travelled the world. I love my country but there are many things to be done to make us standout as a preferred travel destination. Perhaps my pointers could be taken into consideration?

1.   Flags – Flag our flags! The government once launched a campaign to flag the flag but I think the government has to strongly impose on this by doing it first. One large flag at Dataran Merdeka is not impactful enough. We have to have plenty of Jalur Gemilangs around the city, large ones, something to be proud about, tourists taking cabs around the city should be able to see those flags, visitors taking pictures must have our flag in the background. This is not only applicable to KL, it should be done around the country. Flag Jalur Gemilang, not states flags. Raise the flags respectably and not too high please so it's photograph-friendly! Are we not 1Malaysia?

2.   Visitor-friendly-shopping-spots – Apart from our gigantic shopping spots like the Pavillion, the KLCC, the Farenheit 88, we should have shopping spots where we don’t have to compete with moving vehicles. A road leading from Galata Kulesi to Taksim Square in Istanbul is about  1km long, exclusively for walking shoppers. Oxford Street in London offers a nice place to shop. Gold Coast and Perth also have this kind of streets where vehicles are not allowed to passby. The shopping experience is different in this kind of places.

3.    WC a.k.a. Toilet – I almost believe that Europeans don’t pee and poop. Why can’t we have that in Malaysia. Why? While water in the loo is necessary, we don’t have to wet the whole floor na? I think the government should launch a campaign Ops Jamb(an). It’s as easy as 1,2,3. Go, Clean and Flush. What’s so hard about that?

4.   Easy Connectivity – I urge people who work in Tourism Industry to travel the city by public transportation. If I were to stay at Cititel and I want to go to the Menara KL.. how la? Say I stay in Sunway, I want to go KLCC.. my only option is a cab and you know the attitude of our cab drivers. We don’t want people to write nasty things about us in their blogs, do we? Jaga air muka sikit.  

5.   Local Food Stalls at Strategic Places – Study what kind of food that’s popular in Malaysia, design kiosks that represent Malaysia, select strategic points and sell. I’d like to suggest Karipap, Goreng Pisang with Kicap Cili dip, Keropok Lekor and our famous Air Batu Campur. In Europe, people are selling Pretzel-like bread in a kiosk, corn in a kiosk.. and these kiosks are mobile. And these can also be photography spots!

6.   Interesting Places – Duh! This point is a no-brainer, of course we need to have interesting places for tourists to go but do we have enough? I scratch my head when my clients want to tour KL. Apart from KLCC, Menara KL and the tamans… where else could I bring them? Not only me, my tourist guide friend also shares the same feeling.

7.   Photography Spots – Very very very important. People nowadays have adopted the Japanese style. Armed with SLR Cameras, they snap photos almost everywhere. Give them the photography spots. In the USA, they have big billboards to indicate that we have entered a different state and people can actually take photos there. Melaka offers a lot of photography spots. Do more.

8.   We need more Bazaars – Ours is the Central Market. Not big enough, not interesting enough. Allocate one place to be our Art and Crafts Bazaar, and make it happening. Music, shows, cafes, entertainment, etc. like the Camden Market and Covent Garden in London, Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, Gold Zouk in Dubai, Please… we should have one of this in KL. I think we can make use of the train station near the Dataran Merdeka, that could be a nice place, in my opinion.

Tourism Malaysia needs to do more and the people of Malaysia need to contribute more to make Malaysia an appealing destination. Think interesting, think practicality and we would be desired.  We can learn a thing or two from popular travel destinations the world over. Jangan malas.. do more!