NOW IT SNOWS IN MALAYSIA

tak pastilah ni kat shah alam ke tak ha...

SHAH ALAM, May 3 (Bernama) -- People from all walks of life, together with

Dora the Explorer and i-City, welcomed the first snowfall at Snowalk, the latest

attraction at the City of Digital Lights on March 19 this year, when the

highly-awaited snowfall technology from South Korea was launched.

Snowalk, a 4,645 square metre Arctic ''edutaiment'' attraction centre in Shah

Alam, boasts temperatures of 5 degrees below Celsius and 0.1-metre-thick edible

snow on the ground. (Wah..wah..west..ada snow kat Malaysia.. Kat S.A lagi..)

This first snowfall experience in Southeast Asia uses latest Korean

technology, in which purified filtered water is frozen and turned into snow that

is safe enough to taste. (Selamat utk dirase? Biar bener..)

Tourism Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen recently said that innovative and

attractive tourism products, such as the Snowalk@i-City would help attract more

visitors to Malaysia, besides spurring domestic tourism.

"In the past, I used to tell foreigners that we, in Malaysia, can offer them

anything except snow. But with Snowalk, we can say that we also have snow in

Malaysia," she said.

cuba bayangkan klu kabel ni ada kat shah alam..mst seronokk..

INNOVATION AND GROWTH IN TOURISM

i-City''s Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Eu Hong Chew, said the opening of

Snowalk reinforced i-City''s position as an innovative company and knowledge hub.

"As a knowledge hub, our focus is on getting innovative companies to come to

i-City. For this reason, when we wanted to develop tourist attractions, it was

natural to focus on innovation to provide the competitive edge."

When i-City was launched about six years ago, it was planned as a digital

city. It was an innovative idea at that juncture and even today, i-City is

regarded by Multimedia Development Corporate (MDeC) as the benchmark for future

cyber centres in the country.

Eu added that i-City continued innovating when it launched its first tourist

attraction, The City of Digital Lights, in December 2009.

Eu said, "That is why when the Snowalk attraction was plann ed, we sought

technology that created a unique experience with real falling snow, instead of

depending on some FX-type of snowfall.

Snowalk introduces the concept of snow and cold climates i n a fun,

entertaining and educational way. Among the attractions are the Snowalk igloo,

castles, ships and bridges, penguins, swans, illuminated Barney and Baby Bop

replicas in snow, as well as several types of winter games for all age groups.

(sebut pasal i-city, teringat tr pasal satu malam tu..tr n family nak tgk lampu2 kat i-city.. dekat je nak gi sana tapi bila dah sampai...humang aii ponuh tu.. ponuh sosak ngan orang.. nak parking pun susah.. masa tu tr ngandung lak tu.. mano nak bawak poghut(perut) laie kan...last2, pusing balik ke puchong..tgk tb laie best...)

SNOWFALL TECHNOLOGY FROM SOUTH KOREA

Eu said i-City uses Korean technology to create snow fall through a rotating

16-drum machine using purified water. Visitors will be able to experience

snowflakes that are very similar to snow that falls from the sky.

As a cold environment with ice sculptures is not new in Malaysia, Eu said

i-City wanted unique technology to make a difference with snowfall.

Some places, such as Mines Wonderland and Genting Snow World, have already

created special effects using artificial snowfall in Malaysia.

"Therefore, we asked the Korean company, BarsKorea, to custom-build a unique

snow machine for i-City to generate snow in a tropical environment. We told

BarsKorea that we wanted edible snow," Eu said.

On Feb 24, Eu, on behalf of i-City, signed a strategic alliance for

exclusive rights in Malaysia with Snow Ice Maker BarsKorea in Incheon

Metropolitan City, South Korea. BarsKorea has been supplying snow machines to

the food and beverages industry for the past 10 years.

BarsKorea took almost ten months to build the 16-drum snow machine, which is

able to generate six tonnes or approximately 6,000 kilogrammes of soft and

powdery snow per day.

As part of the agreement, Eu said i-City allows BarsKorea to bring business

customers to view the snowfall machine in operation.

Without mentioning the cost of the machine, he said the first phase was to

install the machine above the ceiling at the grand entrance to Snowalk.

The machine has three components: a chiller to cool purified water from room

temperature to 15 degrees Celsius, a condenser unit to refrigerate the snow drum

to -35 degrees Celsius, and finally, blades in the snow drums to convert ice

into soft and powdery snowflakes.

Besides experiencing real falling snow, Eu said, visitors could also admire

the LED lightscapes set among 100 tonnes of creatively designed ice sculptures.

Workers from Harbin, China, a city famed for generations of ice cavers and

town-sized annual ice sculptures, brought their expert skills and home-made

tools to Shah Alam to construct every piece by hand.

A LIGHTSCAPE DELIGHT

Showcasing the latest LED technology, i-City is an exciting and fascinating

place to visit, as it combines LED lights technology and traditional elements

for a unique sight.

It is being dubbed as the first lightscape tourist destination in Malaysia.

Eu said that visitors can stroll around a colourful forest that resembles a

four-season park filled with dozens of interesting sculptures.

The township accommodates high-tech infrastructure allowing a unique display

of digital lights. These attractions are located at CityPark and CityWalk.

"The digital city includes trendy shopping streets and is equipped with a

theme park to cater to visitors looking for a place to unwind," Eu said. He

added that it was aimed at night destination tourism.

FAMILY-ORIENTED LEISURE DESTINATION

To further strengthen its position as a family-oriented leisure destination

in Klang Valley, i-City Marketing Director, Monica Ong, said that i-City has

tied-up with Nickelodeon to provide international and themed promotional events.

With 90,000 visitors a week, i-City''s tie-up with Nickelodeon will also add

domestic and international dimensions in promoting Malaysia as a tourist

destination.

Nickelodeon is a leading brand in entertainment, well-known to children and

parents of all ages.

"This is going to be an exciting year for i-City. We have lined up US$5

million for international promotional and theme programmes," she said.

Dr Ng Yen Yen was quoted as saying that her ministry has been promoting

i-City globally and this Nickelodeon/i-City tie-up would reinforce the

ministry’s efforts to promote i-City as a family and leisure destination around

the region.

-- BERNAMA

CS CR INE CR