Traditional Malay Village To Start Operating Next Month

ALOR SETAR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- A tourism resort at the foot of Gunung Keriang near Alor Setar, which comprises a purpose-built traditional Malay village, is expected to resume operations by next month. State Tourism, Domestic Trade, Consumer Affairs, Indian Community and Estate Workers Committee chairman M. Manikumar said once operational, the village would promote traditional Malay culture, tradition as well as act as another tourist destination in Kedah. "We will promote traditional Malay culture through many activities lined up like paddy planting using buffalo, a traditional method of ploughing land, that might have been forgotten," he said when contacted here Sunday.

He said the State Economic Planning Unit had engaged a company, Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Holding (AHMSH), to manage and operate the RM6.4 million complex built under the Ninth Malaysia Plan but left to deteriorate due to lack of maintenance. Meanwhile, Kedah Tourism Ministry Office Director Anuar Abdul Razak said the complex that was completed in March 2009 was not an abandoned site but rather not managed by anybody after its completion. "In the process of handing over the complex, there has been overgrown bushes giving the expression to the public that the place was abandoned," he said.