Penang’s charm beckons State is still luring tourists in good times or otherwise
(October 5th, 2008)WITH holidaymakers thronging its tourism spots, Penang certainly still has the charm to lure tourists in spite of the global economic slowdown.
Indonesian Jap Boan Teong and his wife Devi, both 58, took advantage of the Hari Raya festive holidays to check out Fort Cornwallis, the Batu Ferringhi beach and the Sleeping Buddha.
“It is really ‘bagus’ to be here for the second time but we found the beaches dirtier now,” Jap said.
Chinese tourist Min Bin, 32, found Penang a beautiful and relaxing place for a holiday.
“China is also having its one week holiday as well. So we took the chance to visit my wife’s relatives and hometown in Penang,” said Min, who is in the civil service, when met at the Wat Chaiyamangalaram Thai Buddhist Temple.
He was with his wife Shilyn Gan, 32, and two-year-old son Min Wen Qian.
Music instructor Lee Chee Siong, 37, and his wife Too Pui Fung, 34, were surprised to see that the traffic in Penang was not heavy.
“Usually, there will be heavy traffic during the festive season,” the couple from Ipoh said.
Lee said they set off from Ipoh at 6am on Wednesday to avoid the usual traffic congestion.
Teacher S. Selvi, 34, who came for a holiday with her family of 10 from Port Dickson, was disappointed to find Penang Hill closed for maintenance.
“That was our first destination and main purpose of visiting Penang. We did not know about the maintenance work and this is a huge disappointment,” she said.
Selvi, however, visited the Snake Temple and hoped to visit Penang Hill next time.
Another teacher, Nora Omar, 30, from Kuala Lumpur took opportunity of the holiday to relax at the beach in Tanjung Bungah with her family.
“We’ll be visiting more relatives after this and go shopping in Penang,” she said.
By Ann Tan of The Star Newspaper