Tourism Langkawi {dot} Com

LANGKAWI, Oct 14 (Bernama) — About 1,200 residents in the Kuala Triang and Kuala Melaka areas did not panic at the sound of the tsunami warning siren Wednesday.

Instead, the residents of six villages were a picture of calm when they were ‘alerted’ by the siren during the Indian Ocean Wave 2009 Exercise.

Instead of running helter-skelter, they began vacating their homes in an orderly manner for higher ground.

National Security Council Crisis and Disaster Management principal assistant secretary Rodzi Md Saad said the residents were cooperative during the exercise.

The exercise was the first held simultaneously in 27 countries in the vicinity of the Indian Ocean.

Tsunami ‘alerts’ were issued from Putrajaya to Langkawi, following ‘warnings’ from tsunami watch centres in Hawaii and Tokyo, Japan.

Rodzi said the tsunami warning was sounded at 9.30 this morning, and the 1,270 residents, who were not told that it was merely an exercise, had thought the tsunami was genuine.

Rodzi said the exercise was a success because the relevant authorities from the police, and the civil defence, social welfare and information departments managed to communicate and coordinate the task well.

A resident, Embun Hassan, 53, said he thought there really was a tsunami and had asked his family to vacate their house quickly.

“I thought it was real when in actual fact, it was just an exercise. This exercise is good. We are always ready, should a tsunami occur because our area has been hit in the past,” he said.

Meanwhile, Langkawi police chief Supt Ishak Hasan, who is also tsunami exercise supervisor, said the villagers should be ready for any eventuality.

– BERNAMA

Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) yachts Zuhrah and Zuhal that would be used by the navy teams during the Royal Langkawi International Regatta (RLIR) scheduled from Jan 8 to 15 next year, have decided to arrive early to prepare for the prestigious sailing event.

TLDM Sailing Association President Capt. Mohd Halim Saad said both the yachts which set sail from the TLDM base in Lumut on Oct 2, would conduct their trainings at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club for two months.

“The early arrival of the yachts is to give the sailors ample time to prepare and be acclimatized with the sea and wind conditions in the competition area,” he told Bernama here on Monday.

Mohd Halim said TLDM’s main target and objective for the RLIR 2010 was to wrest the title in the Sportboat category that was won by Zuhal in the 2006 edition.

“I am satisfied with the efforts and determination shown by the sailors of both teams and it will not be an impossible task for Zuhal or Zuhrah to be on the winning podium of the regatta,” he said.

In the 2009 edition, Quantum Racing from Australia won the Sportboat category title.

Mohd Halim said Zuhrah and Zuhal would only be competing in the International Regatta Class 3 competition of the RLIR 2010 because the sailors in the teams lack exposure in high level competitive sailing regattas.

“In Malaysia we have only two sailing regattas that Zuhrah and Zuhal compete, namely the RLIR and the Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta (RMSIR), compared with six to nine regattas participated by professional sailing teams,” he said.

– BERNAMA

wenty teams from Thailand, Singapore, India and Malaysia have confirmed their participation in this year’s Langkawi International Fishing Tournament, which will be held for three days in Tukun Perak Island, starting Nov 12.

Langkawi Tourism Action Council facilities and services manager Suziana Wan Othman said Thailand would send four teams, Singapore (two), India (one) while the rest of some 120 anglers were from Malaysia.

Tukun Perak island, about 96 nautical miles of Langkawi, has been identified as the venue for the competition as the water there is home to many types of huge fish species.

The best team stands to win RM10,000 in cash while the first and second runners-up will receive RM7,000 and RM5,000 respectively.

The cash prize for the individual category is RM5,000 for the winner and RM3,000 and RM2,000 respectively for the first and second runners-up.

Further information can be obtained from the council at telephone number 04-9698080 or fax at 04-9698081.

– BERNAMA

he Royal Langkawi International Regatta (RLIR) has spurred development of the maritime industry in the island resort, Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC) senior manager Abdul Rahman Mahani said.

He said the regatta which gathers 30-40 yachts from all over the world had created many business opportunities to Malaysian maritime industry players.

“Most yacht owners participating in RLIR took the oportunity to repair their yachts in Langkawi as it has several repair centres which offer a whole range of services.

“The low fees charged by RLYC also encouraged the foreigners to spend more time in Langkawi. Our fees are lower than those in Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Hong Kong,” he told Bernama here on Sunday.

Abdul Rahman said since its inception in 2003, RLIR had strong support from government agencies and the private sector but added at least RM 1.5 million was needed to organise a bigger regatta.

“We hope more Malaysian corporations will become official sponsors as they can become icons of a world-class regatta.

“Malaysia can take the cue from the United States where a watch company has become the official sponsor of an international regatta,” he said.

The annual RLIR will be held from Jan 8-15 next year.

– BERNAMA

LANGKAWI, Sept 7 (Bernama) — The Tourism Ministry has approved 1,500 temporary permits for operators who are running car hire operations without a licence on the island.

Kedah Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) chairman Pishol Ishak said the permits were only for operators who are Matta members.

“The temporary permits are to cater to the transportation needs of visitors for the coming Aidilfitri, Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima ‘09) and the year-end holiday,” he said.

He hoped that the permit could provide a temporary respite for these operators whose cars were seized by the Road Transport Department for operating without a licence.

– BERNAMA

LANGKAWI, Sept 7 (Bernama) — The Langkawi Development Authority (LADA) has intensified its tourism promotion by picking London as its new target after the success of its missions to India, the former Soviet republics, Dubai, Indonesia and Singapore.

Lada general manager Azman Umar said the agency would participate in the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board’s mission to London from Nov 9 to 12.

He said statistics from the Lada tourism unit showed that there were 100,831 tourists from the United Kingdom visiting Langkawi last year while the figure for the first seven months of this year was 53,123 tourists.

“London was chosen based on the encouraging market there besides Singapore, Thailand and Australia,” Azman told Bernama, here on Monday.

He said that a second promotion to Singapore would be held from Nov 13 to 15. The first mission to that republic was made in May.

Lada would take part in the International Travel Expo in Vietnam from Oct 1 to 3 to woo tourists from the Asean member nations to visit Langkawi, he said.

On the promotions to the former Soviet Union republics namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in June, he said they had received good response.

Following the promotions, 10 representatives from travel agencies and the media from the countries concerned would visit Lanagkawi for five days from Sept 9 to have a better knowledge of the resort island.

– BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) — Malaysia plans to purchase EC-725 Cougar helicopters from the Eurocopter by the end of 2009, according to Malaysia’s Defense Ministry source.

The Malaysian government is expected to sign a contract with the Eurocopter for eight or ten helicopters at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace 2009 show in December, New Straits Times quoted the ministry’s source as saying.

The purchase price has failed to be disclosed. As planned, these helicopters will be delivered starting from 2010.

The current fleet of helicopters, Sikorsky S61-A4 Sea King, has been in operation since 1969 and the government thinks it is urgent to replace them.

The government used to make a purchasing plan of 12 Cougars for 1.6 billion ringgit (4.6 million U.S. dollars) two years ago, which had been finally put off for financial reasons.

Via: Xinhua