MALAYSIAN WORLD EXPO PAVILION AT SHANGHAI RECEIVES DROOPY RESPONSE

The Malaysian Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo may not reach the target number of visitors by the end of the expo later this year, if the current visitor trends persist.

This is despite the government spending a whopping RM35 million on the exhibit, as revealed by Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen in a written reply to Batu Gajah MP Fong Poh Kuan in Parliament yesterday.

She added that the exhibit, which is likely to be donated to the Wuxi province of China after the expo ends on Oct 31, attracted an average 22,383 visitors per day from its opening day on May 1 until May 31.

This is about half the number of average visitors it should be attracting to reach its reported target of 10 million for the whole six months.

The exhibit's performance in attracting 693,368 visitors in the first month of the expo also pales in comparison to that of other Asia Pacific countries.

"Thailand received 880,000 visitors while Australia and Indonesia received one million visitors respectively," Ng said.

Allegations of corruption

The Minangkabau-roofed exhibit, which houses examples of Malaysian culture and lifestyle, including a miniature golf range, has courted significant interest due to allegations of corruption.

According to Independent MP Wee Choo Keong (right), the contract for the project was granted through direct negotiations to Venturepharm Sdn Bhd.

This, he alleged, was despite the fact that Venturepharm had no experience in the area of design and architecture, but specialised in pharmaceuticals.

The allegations prompted the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) to seize the files of the company in July last year.

The MACC also probed the granting of a contract for bio-feed to the same company by the Ministry of Science and Technology (Mosti).

Venturepharm's bio-feed grant has been temporarily put on hold by Mosti and payments have been frozen, pending completion of the MACC investigation.

However, no progress reports have been made on the matter thus far.