A miniature airport that cost RM13.7 million and took 7 years to complete!

Hamburg is home to the world's largest miniature airport sited at Miniatur Wunderland which also boasts the world's largest model railway.

It took nearly seven years and over 3.5 million euros to build the roughly 1,600 square-foot model, inspired by Hamburg's Fuhlsbüttel Airport. An impressive array of accessories are featured in the miniature airport including 40 planes, 40,000 lights, 15,000 figurines, 500 cars, 10,000 trees, 50 trains, 1000 wagons, 100 signals, 200 switches and 300 buildings. Through the use of computer controls, the figurines move autonomously.

[Read the full story here.]

Considering the obscene amounts squandered by the Umno/BN regime every fiscal year on white elephant mega-projects and unmitigated corruption, RM13.7 million seems like money very creatively spent. As a tourist attraction the miniature airport, which opened in May 2011, will probably pay for itself within 5-7 years. I find miniature environments absolutely fascinating - they enable us to view reality from an entirely different perspective.