Sabah Malaysian Borneo March 2008

RM 1.00

INSIDE:

Sabah Agriculture Park, Fauziah Gambus, Eating Out, Listings and more!

Top 10 Thingsto Do in Sabah

March 2008 Volume 85March 2008 Volume 85

U

s

e

f

u

l

P

h

r

a

s

e

s I

nB

a

h

a

s

a

M

a

l

a

y

s

i

a

Apa khabar?

– How are you?

Khabar baik

– I’m fine

Terima kasih

– Thank you

Sama-sama

– You’re welcome

Pukul berapa…?

– What time…?

Di mana…?

– Where…?

Bolehkah anda membantu saya?

– Can you help me?

Minta maaf

– I’m sorry/Excuse me

Saya sedang mencari tempat makan

– I’m looking for a place to eat

Berapa harga?

– How much is this?

I

t is my pleasure to present the 2007 perform-ance of tourism in Sabah, the insights intoand direction for the tourism industry in TheLand Below The Wind for the next three years.Sabah is an emerging, exotic, exciting,highly diverse, unique, friendly, hospitable,safe, politically stable, a value and a world classdestination that is being promoted and market-ed as

‘Sabah Nature’ally’, A PremierEcotourism Destination

, capitalizing on its megabiodiversity and rich living heritage as APremier Nature Adventure Destination, EcoTreasures from Mountain High to Ocean Deep.The harmony, high degree of tolerance andintegration among the multi religion and multiethnic people of Sabah of a delightful mix ofover 30 indigenous communities epitomizeSabah is Truly Malaysia. Malaysia is being suc-cessfully promoted Malaysia Truly Asia.Sabah’s tourism industry performed verywell with an average growth of 22% per annumin the last ten years. The Land Below The Windis ‘a shooting star’ in the East Asia PacificRegion. Total arrivals of just over 400,000 in1998 significantly increased five folds to 2.48million in 2007, yielding RM 4.7 billion intourism receipts which is 14.8% of the GDP ofSabah . The average length of stay is 8 nights 9days. 96% of the arrivals are by air. 40% arerepeat visitors. The focus is on high yield longerstaying tourists ‘Less is More’ in pursuance ofsustainable tourism development. The hoteloccupancy statewide averaged 75%, with over80% occupancy for 4-5 Star hotels There is aneed to double to 6,000 rooms of 5-Starbeach resort hotels by 2010.The growth of tourist arrivals is projected toaverage about 20% per annum in the next fiveyears. The projection for 2010 is 3.4 milliontourist arrivals yielding RM 6.5 billion tourismreceipts. The focus is domestic, the East AsiaPacific Region and the aviation hubs ofSingapore and Hong Kong. The completion ofthe redevelopment of Kota KinabaluInternational Airport (KKIA) by mid-2009 willincrease three folds its passengers per annumcapacity from 4 million to 12 million, and withan Open Sky policy, will encourage moredirect international scheduled flights to Sabah,Malaysia’s Eastern Gateway. Currently 9 airlinesfly directly to KKIA from South Korea, Japan,China,Hong Kong,Taiwan,Philippines,Singaporeand Brunei besides 20daily Kuala Lumpur-Kota Kinabalu flightsthat provide conven-ient connectivity forinternational flights toSabah via KualaLumpur InternationalAirport.Sabah’s huge potential for sustainablegrowth will be enhanced by the recentlylaunched Sabah Development Corridor whichwill put in place world class tourism infrastruc-ture and services to strengthen Sabah’s positionas a premier eco-adventure destination and tomake Sabah among the most liveable places inAsia by 2025.The challenge is a shared vision, tourismculture of cleanliness, politeness and efficiencybe a way of life, development in harmony withnature, energizing the Sabah tourism industry,ramping up Sabah’s tourism capabilities tomove up to the next level, and for Sabah to bea preferred destination of choice in the glob-al market.I would like to take this opportunity tothank the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia, TourismMalaysia, the Sabah State Government par-ticularly the Ministry of Tourism, Culture andEnvironment for the leadership and budget, allour industry partners and members of the trav-el industry, the management, staff and mem-bers of the Sabah Tourism Board, and SriPelancongan Sabah, for their strong supportand cooperation towards our effort in makingSabah A Premier Ecotourism Destination andTo Shine Among The Best.To all our visitors, we wish you Selamat Datangand have a pleasant experience of The LandBelow The Wind in Malaysian Borneo.Terima kasih.

Tengku Zainal Adlin

Chairman,Sabah Tourism Board

Contents

3Feature Personality

K1 Fighters

4Happenings & Highlights

Sabah Agricultural Park 7th AnniversarySabah and Sarawak Art Link ExhibitionPesta Lunsai9th Annual Sabah Adventure Challenge 2008Freedom of Entry to the City

7Eating Out

Yoshimi Japanese Testaurant, Warisan SquareA Malaysian Staple - Chicken Rice

8Spa Essentials

Just Relax

9Leisure

Sabah Polo

10Feature

Top 10 things to do in Sabah

12Through The Lens

Exciting events all year round

14Culture

A Gambus Album by Fauziah Suhaili

15What’s New at Kadaiku

Sabah Souvenirs &Handicrafts

16Bahasa Malaysia Section18Chinese Section20Japanese Section22Korean Section24Directory Listings25 Sabah Map & Listings26The Sabah Agriculture Park

ADVISOR

YBhg. Dato’ Seri Tengku Zainal Adlin / Sitti B. Damsal

EDITOR

Yolanda Graham

DESIGNER

Trevor Thomson Lam C.W.What’s New At Kadaiku design by Charlieking Padasian

PUBLISHER

Sabah Tourism Board / Sri Pelancongan Sabah Sdn. Bhd.51 Gaya Street, 88000 Kota Kinabalu

TRANSLATORS

DESIGNED & PRINTEDBY

Inna Kinabalu Sdn Bhd

(Publisher of The New Sabah Times)Jalan Pusat Pembangunan Masyarakat, Sembulan88100 Kota KinabaluEvery effort has been made to ensure that the information iscorrect at the time of publication. The publisher cannot be heldresponsible for any inaccuracies, omissions and alterations whichmay occur as a result of last minute changes. No part of thismagazine may be reproduced without the written permission of theSabah Tourism Board.

Editorial