In conjunction with the Malaysia's 68th National Day celebrations, I am happy and proud to walkabout with 3 of my 5 grandchildren around my lovely hometown, Taiping a popular tourist destination. It has been placed third in the “Best of Cities” category, behind Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and Vancouver, Canada. The recognition was given during 2019 Sustainable Top 100 Destination Awards at the International Tourismus-Borse (ITB) travel trade show in Berlin, Germany. Taiping was also named as one of the 100 Sustainable Cities, the only Malaysian city which made it in the list by Green Destinations. The ‘2018 Sustainable Destinations Top 100’ list, at greendestinations.org, was aimed at giving recognition for sustainable environment.
Green Destinations (GD) is a non-profit organization which focuses on efforts to create sustainable tourism, leading a global cooperation comprising of experts, firms and academy institutions in 80 countries. Taiping has previously been recognized as the Best Destination Manager 2016 by the Tourism Promotion Board for the Asia Pacific; besides having received the Malaysian Tourism Council Gold Award 2017 in Best Heritage & Eco Travel Destination Category and Malaysia Tourism Council Gold Award 2018 for the Best Tourism Promotion Campaign. It's known for well-preserved colonial architecture. (https://www.tourism.gov.my; htpps://www.mtaiping.gov.my)
During my storytelling session, I've impressed upon my grandchildren that “Historically, Taiping has been associated with peace since its very inception. In fact, the word ‘Taiping’ comes from the Chinese phrase for ‘Everlasting Peace’. In the mid-19th century, it was discovered that the area was rich in tin ore deposits. Chinese miners were brought in to mine the ore. Taiping receives some limelight for being the wettest (rainfall) location in Peninsula Malaysia.”
My grandson, Fayyadh, Primary 2 pupil of Sri Al-Amin School Cyberjaya considered worth visiting Taiping for its unique charm of the sustainable Lake Gardens, Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill), the Taiping Zoo especially Night Safari, that emphasizes on animal welfare, and above all eating delicious local food.
Zulkifly Baharom (hajizul50@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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