ITB Berlin News 2019 - Review Edition

NEWS
9
ADVERTORIAL
Official “Handover Ceremony”
The Grand Final of ITB Berlin 2019 sees Tourism Malaysia senior
staff members warmly congratulated by management of ITB
Berlin
Dr Martin Buck, Senior Vice
President Travel & Logistics,
Messe Berlin with Datuk
Musa HJ. Yusof, Director
General of Tourism Malaysia
Datuk Yusof handing over
the baton to Salim Aday Al
Mamari, Director General
of Tourism Promotion of the
Sultanate of Oman, the 2020
Official Partner Country
Mah Meri
The new Director General of Tourism Malaysia, Datuk Musa
HJ. Yusof was present at the official “farewell” for Malaysia
as Official Partner Country 2019 at 3:30pm on Sunday
10th March. Datuk Yusof and the entire support team were
handed certificates from ITB Berlin “in recognition of the
high commitment of Tourism Malaysia as the official partner
country and trustful cooperation among all partners”.
The certificates were handed over
by Dr Martin Buck, Senior Vice
President Travel & Logistics, Messe
Berlin (organisers of ITB Berlin),
and Rika Jean-François, who is
both CSR commissioner and in
charge of partner country relations
for Messe Berlin. Following
this, the official “passing of the
baton” took place, with Datuk
Yusof handing over the baton to
Salim Aday Al Mamari, Director
General of Tourism Promotion of
the Sultanate of Oman, the 2020
Official Partner Country.
Dr Buck and Datuk Yusof
exchanged thanks and
congratulations for the excellent
relationship between the nation’s
tourism authority and ITB, a
relationship which, underlined
Datuk Yusof, dates back 47 years,
almost to the beginnings of ITB
itself. He in particular thanked ITB
Berlin for its support, while for his
part, Dr Buck stated that there was
no doubt that making Malaysia
official partner country this year
was “the right decision”.
As part of what was a highly
cultural event, dancers from
Istana Budaya, Malaysia’s national
theatre in Kuala Lumpur, opened
proceedings, with the Mah Meri
closing the event.
Coincidentally, Istana Budaya
this year celebrates its 20th
anniversary. Indeed, on a par
with the world’s best, Malaysia’s
National Theatre, 20 years after its
inception, is still number 1 in Asia,
and one of the top few worldwide.
Known locally as Istana Budaya, the
state-of-the-art theatre was officially
launched by the 4th Prime Minister
of Malaysia on September 15th,
1999. It is located in Kuala Lumpur
and covers a total area of 5.44 acres
with the physical dimensions of
the theatre encompassing 21,000
square meters. Its architectural
design is based on a blend of
various aspects of Malay traditional
culture. Malaysia’s National Theatre
takes pride as being the #1 theatre
in Asia, and one just a few in the
world with such sophisticated
state-of-the-art stage mechanism
for theatre performances, staging
musical theatres from drama to
comedy and concerts from classical
to pop.
Local arts & culture are highlighted,
providing opportunities for
creative expression and enhancing
excellence in performing arts.
Istana Budaya’s main function is
to provide quality entertainment
to the public, in accordance with
Malaysia’s National Culture Policy.
Istana Budaya continues to
upgrade its technologies to be
on par with those used by other
theatres in the world. These
include computer-controlled stage
mechanisms, lighting systems,
audio visual systems, and special
effects. The Panggung Sari stage
consists of 4 double deck stage
lifts and 5 moving platforms
also known as wagons. Double
deck stage lift can be elevated or
lowered up to 4.5 meters from the
stage level. The moving platforms
are made up of 4 side wagons and
1 rear wagon. The 4 side wagons
are movable side to side and the
rear wagon can be moved to the
front and back. There are also
61 fly bars and a staggering 169
point hoists. The speed, levels
and points of these mechanisms
can be controlled individually
or in formation. Combined with
their network of state-of-the art
lighting, audio visual and special
effects systems, the stage offers
endless possibilities in creating
spectacular stage orchestrations
for any form of stage productions.
The Mah Meri (meaning “jungle
man”) is a group of indigenous
people or “orang asli” living on
Carey Island, about 28km south of
the city of Klang in Selangor state,
and just a couple of hours’ drive
from Kuala Lumpur. There are five
MAKING MALAYSIA
OFFICIAL PARTNER COUNTRY
THIS YEAR WAS “THE RIGHT
DECISION”.
Mah Meri villages on Carey Island
with total population about 4,000.
Mah Meri is indeed a subgroup
of the Senoi ethnic group of
indigenous people in Malaysia.
Senoi are generally found in the
central part of the Malaysian
peninsular, and are believed to
have come originally from Yunnan
via Southern Thailand around
10,000 years ago
ITB BERLIN NEWS • Friday 15 th March 2019