MyFest 2015 launch event postponed

The Ministry of Tourism and Culture has postponed the launch of Malaysia Year of Festivals 2015 (MyFest 2015) which was scheduled on Jan 10 to a later date, in light of the floods that have hit several states.

Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz expressed his sympathy towards the plight of flood victims, saying the flood situation this time was unexpected.

He said the ministry had also cancelled the Christmas open house scheduled to take place on Dec 27 at the Pavilion, KualaLumpur, and replaced it with the flood relief charity event, 1MOTAC.

"The charity dinner raised donations totaling RM22,000 as well as other essential items for flood victims," he said in a statement Monday.

MyFest 2015 is a national event which was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his 2015 Budget speech.

It is follow-up to Visit Malaysia Year 2014 and aims to maintain Malaysia as a major destination of choice for tourists worldwide and to draw 29.4 million tourist arrivals with tourism receipt of RM89 billion.

MyFest 2015, with its theme "Endless Celebrations", will focus on empowering and celebrating the country's racial diversity with various cultures, heritage, festivals and arts, as a unique tourism package, in line with the 'Malaysia Truly Asia' brand.

Nazri was optimistic the flood situation in the affected states would recover adding the ministry and its agencies would assist and support these states in promoting their tourism sectors.

"The tourism industry has been affected because Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Kedah, Johor and Negeri Sembilan are among the states with the highest number of tourist arrivals recorded in 2013."

Nazri said the ministry also expressed its sympathy towards the families of passengers onboard AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501 which was reported missing.

On Sunday, Flight QZ8501 on its way from Surabaya to Singapore, lost contact with the air traffic control centre in Jakarta at 7:24am while it was in the country's air space.

The Airbus A320-200 plane was carrying 162 people, including seven crew members.