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Tourism Malaysia

HK’s new luxury cruise terminal

Repurposed: The former Kai Tak International Airport is now a luxury cruise terminal.Repurposed: The former Kai Tak International Airport is now a luxury cruise terminal.

Hong Kong’s old airport is now a contemporary seaport.

HONG KONG opened a US$1.1bil (RM3.5bil) cruise terminal at the site of its former airport on Wednesday in a bid to become Asia’s hub for luxury liners.

The new terminal, built on the runway of the old Kai Tak airport, will be able to accommodate the largest cruise ships in the world – liners of up to 220,000 gross tonnes.

�Kai Tak was the site of our legendary airport and is now turning a historic page by connecting Hong Kong with the rest of the world through the seven seas,� said Commissioner of Tourism, Philip Yung.

“With the addition of this new facility, Hong Kong is in full gear to receive mega cruise ships,� said Yung.

Royal Caribbean’s 1,020 feet (310m) long Mariner Of The Seas was the first mega luxury cruise liner to dock at the two-berth terminal, which boasts a 360° panoramic view of the city. A troupe of lion dancers welcomed more than 3,000 passengers as they disembarked.

“Our favourite port was Venice. You beat Venice,� George Lamson, a 74-year-old artist from the United States, told reporters, adding he was amazed by the views as the ship entered the city’s famed Victoria Harbour.

“We feel privileged to have this honour,� 65-year-old retiree from Britain, Valerie Blakeway, said of being amongst the first visitors to the terminal.

The former Kai Tak International Airport was considered one of the most challenging places to land an aircraft due to its central location in the city and tall mountains surrounding it.

The airport closed in 1998 after being in service for over 70 years and was replaced by the current Chek Lap Kok International Airport.

The cruise terminal will open to the public in the third quarter of the year with its second berth opening in 2014.– AFP RelaxNews

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Cuisine in Melaka

LENGGONG VALLEY WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Malaysia now has four world heritage sites
Posted on 2 July 2012 – 07:47pm
Last updated on 2 July 2012 – 10:22pm

Commissioner of Heritage Malaysia Datuk Siti Zuraina Majid, (third from left), leading the Malaysian delegation to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in St Petersburg, Russia. BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR (July 2, 2012): Malaysia now has four World Heritage Sites recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (Unesco) World Heritage List, the latest being the Archaelogical Heritage of the Lenggong Valley (AHLV) in Perak.

The others are the historic cities of Melaka and George Town along the Straits of Melaka, Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak and Kinabalu Park in Sabah.

The listing of AHLV by Unesco is also 953rd on the World Heritage List in the current session of the World Heritage Committee here, and it also “testifies another dimension of the global recognition of Malaysia as a nation endowed with and committed to the conservation and protection of its world renowned heritage”, the National Heritage Department said in a statement from St Petersburg, Russia today.

Malaysia is a member of the 21-nation World Heritage Committee that decides on the inscription, referral or deferral of properties proposed for nomination, a position it was elected to, for a four-year term (2011-2015).

The department said the lush Lenggong Valley contained artefactual evidence in the open air and cave sites spanning all the periods of hominid history outside Africa.

It said the series of caves and open air sites along the Perak River in the Lenggong Valley were an exceptional testimony to occupation of the area, particularly during the Palaeolithic era, but during the Neolithic and Bronze age periods from 1.83 million years ago to 1,700 years ago.

These sites represent one of the longest records of early man in a single locality in the world.

The department said Malaysians should be proud that this inscription by Unesco meant that the Lenggong Valley was an important site for humankind to be shared by all in the world.

With this comes a serious responsibility to protect and preserve its outstanding universal value for future generations, it added.

Datuk Zuraina Majid, the Commissioner of Heritage Malaysia, led the Malaysian delegation to the meeting here.

Others in the team include Professor Dr A. Ghafar Ahmad, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Wilfred Landong and Syahrin Abdullah.

Malaysia’s Permanent Delegate to Unesco, Mohd Zulkifli Mohammed, also attended the meeting. – Bernama