S

hopaholics all over the region should be aware and prepared as they face the mightiest temptation of shopping during these eight weeks in Malaysia.

Starting from July 4 until Aug. 31, 2009, branded items and more will be on sale in what is dubbed the country's biggest sale event this year, the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival.

Participating shopping malls in the program include IKANO Power Centre, Mid Valley Megamall, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Queensbay Mall Penang, Sunway Carnival Mall, Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall, The Gardens Mall and Parkson stores, while street markets and bazaars are offering special prices in the event, including the Central Market, Petalling Street, Little India in Brickfields and other street markets at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Masjid India.

"This is our 10th year of holding the Mega Sale, and it has been among our successful programs in positioning Malaysia as a top-of-mind tourist destination," said YA Bhg Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia in her official carnival opening speech on Sunday, July 5, 2009.

Taking place at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, named world's best retail center of 2009, the event was also opened by YB Dato' Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen, Malaysia's Minister of Tourism.

Shopping is known to have contributed 13.3 billion ringgit, or a total of 26.8 percent of the country's tourism revenue in 2008, roughly a 10 billion ringgit increase from the previous year. It is also the 2nd biggest tourist expenditure and with the country registered up to 22 million tourist arrivals in 2008,

Around 52 foreign journalists and TV crew from 11 different countries like Japan, China, Brunei, Australia, Iran and Indonesia were invited to experience the shopping spree first hand, while local journalists swarmed the mall's enormous belly with their flashing cameras.

Also making a brief appearance at the launch was former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, casually dressed in Malaysian batik.

To support the two-month event, the government of Malaysia has provided discounts for its public services, including 25 percent price cuts for its inter-city railway network, the Keretapi Tanah Melayu, and an excess baggage allowance of five to 10 kilograms for passengers of Malaysia Airlines, flying from Malaysia to selected destinations.

The mega sale will be launched at different times in different states. Outside the Klang Valley, state-level launches of MMSC 2009 will take place in Penang on July 8, Kota Bharu on July 10, Kota Kinabalu on July 11, Johor Baru and Miri on July 18. A special launch will also be held at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 16th by Malaysia Airport Holding Berhard., marking the participation of the airport in the program.

To note, Malaysia has recorded a total of 1,894,059 tourist arrivals for the month of May 2009, representing a 0.3 percent decrease from the 1,899,148 tourist arrivals in the same period last year. Even so, the cumulative number of tourist arrivals recorded from January to May 2009 reached a total of 9,238,116, a 2.6 percent increase from the same period in the previous year.

Indonesia is the second biggest tourist generating market after Singapore, with up to 910,733 tourists spotted in the first quarter of the year. And despite the economic recession, the growing cases of Swine Flu and H1N1 virus, the country is optimistic about getting more tourists for the rest of the year, including more tourists from Indonesia. "We recorded up to 1.2 million tourist arrivals from Indonesia last year. And with the number of young tourists continuing to enjoy the various resorts that we have, their number has reached 22.75 percent, up from 20.30 percent last year. We consider one million tourist arrivals from Indonesia a feasible target," said Tn Hj Azizan Noordin, the Deputy Director General Planning of Tourism Malaysia to The Jakarta Post.