That was at the Langkawi Tourism Awards ceremony held at the Langkawi International Convention Centre (LICC) in December 2015.
In fact, in Kuah two years earlier, Najib, a guest at the
ground-breaking ceremony for the St Regis Hotel and Langkawi
International Convention Centre, had already expressed optimism that
Langkawi would become like Monaco and Bali.
Monaco, a city which oozes luxury and is famous for being the
playground of the rich and famous, is a tiny principality on the French
Riviera. It is reputed to have the best casinos and hotels, the most
expensive real estate anywhere in the world, and the most expensive
yachts berthed in its marina.
Monaco is a tax haven and home to the highest number of millionaires and billionaires per capita. Now, the controversial menteri besar of Kedah, Sanusi Nor, has cast a
shadow over the future of Langkawi as a tourist destination.
According to tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing,
non-Muslim tourists to Langkawi had complained of being prohibited from
wearing shorts and drinking alcohol on the island. Tiong used social media to express his reluctance to argue with
Sanusi over the complaints but urged him to act on them before they
worsened.
He told Parliament about various tourists’ allegations concerning the
abuse of power by government officials who had harassed them for not
observing the dress code and for consuming alcohol.
Sanusi denied the existence of the ban and invited Tiong to visit
Langkawi and see for himself that what he was told was not true. Who does one believe? Sanusi or Tiong? No-one can forget the shock which reverberated around the world when,
many years ago, an elderly American couple was caught for khalwat.
Langkawi attracted negative publicity.
The elderly couple had stopped in Langkawi, and stayed in a hotel
while awaiting the arrival of spare parts for the engine of their yacht. This is an example of non-Malays and non-Malaysians being affected by our morality police. If it is true that a strict dress code and a ban on alcohol is
quietly being enforced, then things have not really progressed much.
If Langkawi does not succeed in pulling in the tourists and fails as
an island destination, it is not because of its location, its natural
beauty, or its many attractive features, like the waterfalls, and its
wildlife and birds.
