Flower show exhibits to continue blooming at Devon garden

The Star, Sunday, 12 June 2011

 GEORGE TOWN: Some plants used in Malaysia’s gold medal-winning exhibit at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show will be handed over to the Paignton Zoo Botanical Gardens in Devon, England today.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said many of the plants, which are all commonly found in the country, were actually sourced from Europe to build the rainforest-inspired show garden.


“If we took the plants from Malaysia, there would have been a quarantine period of nine months and all the plants would have died.

“So, we sourced the plants from Europe as the quarantine period from EU (European Union) countries is much shorter,” Dr Ng said after launching the 1Malaysia Parks and Gardens Festival at the Penang Botanic Gardens here yesterday. She said Malaysia’s high commissioner to Britain would hand over a number of these plants to the botanical gardens in Devon.

“All the plants that we used will be donated to various gardens in Britain, including Kew Gardens (in London).
“I’m very proud that we managed to ‘recycle’ all the plants and they were not thrown away,” Dr Ng said, adding that over 10,000 plants from 51 plant species were used in Tourism Malaysia’s Chelsea Flower Show exhibit this year.

The exhibit, visited by Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Andrew, Prince Albert of Monaco and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, was designed by garden designers David Cubero and James Wong who is originally from Sarawak.

Guidelines to spur horse riding 

The Star, Sunday, 12 June 2011

By ANDREA FILMER and CHRISTINA CHIN
north@thestar.com.my

GEORGE TOWN: The Tourism Ministry has decided to draw up guidelines on horse riding activities following a mishap at the popular Batu Feringghi Beach here.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said the guidelines, expected to be completed within a month, were necessary in view of the negative impact on the activity.

“In the past, we didn't have them (the guidelines) as enforcement came under the state,” she said.
“But it has come to a stage where we have to now,” she told reporters after launching the 1Malaysia Parks and Gardens Carnival at the Penang Botanic Gardens yesterday.

On Tuesday, Arina Kirana Azrin, five, fractured her left collarbone and pelvic bone after she was trampled upon by a horse ridden by a man fleeing from enforcement officers.
This prompted Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to issue a warning that the state government was firm about banning horse riding along the beachfront.

However, Dr Ng described this as improper due to the leisure activity being a popular tourist attraction.
Yesterday, Dr Ng said it would be up to the state to decide whether to adopt the guidelines as the ministry could not make these mandatory.

“We will consult experts to come up with the guidelines. These will include having a designated zone for horse riding, licensing and registering the operators as well as training them.

“We should not stop horse riding just because we don't have a system in place,” she said.
Meanwhile, Lim said the state's ban on horse riding would remain unless the ministry came up with a solution agreeable to both hoteliers and tourists.

“We refuse to gamble with the lives of tourists and won't wait until someone dies before acting,” he said.
“Safety is our priority,'' he told reporters after opening the Plenitude Penang International Dragon Boat Festival at the Teluk Bahang Dam

Gardens play host to colourful display of culture and grace

The Star, Monday, 13 June 2011

IT was a night when the gardens came alive with the sound of music and the grace of dances.

For about two hours, the Music in the Park concert had a normally sleepy area of the Penang Botanic Gardens — the Quarry Garden — resonating with the eclectic melodies and performances by 14 groups from around the country.

Held as part of the two-day 1Malaysia Parks and Gardens Carnival over the weekend, the concert on both nights was a blend of Malaysian traditional music, cultural shows and pop jazz performances. Though getting to the event venue entailed a short hike, the crowd didn’t seem to mind as they took their seats in anticipation.

Under the moonlit and starry sky on the first night on Saturday, an ensemble from the 1Malaysia Boria Festival got proceedings underway with a Boria Pulau Pinang performance that drove home a message about preserving the environment.
That was followed up by pop jazz routines by local band The Romantique, which had some in the crowd humming along.
Next came the Indian bharathanathiyam and Chinese prosperity dances by the Kalai Kaali Nadana Aleya and the Arts of Siang cultural groups respectively, with dancers looking resplendent in their colourful and elaborate costumes.



 That's entertainment: A Chinese prosperity dance performance by Arts of Siang