Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Labuan's mystical Chimney Museum


Labuan: The island Federal Territory boasts having three museums – Labuan Marine Museum, Labuan Museum and Chimney Museum.

"The Chimney Museum is so mystical that even Labuan people may not be aware," said Labuan Corporation Tourism Department Director, Mahathir Abdul Hamid.

He said the Chimney Museum is seen as a mysterious place due to its historical tale. There was a chimney-lookalike built during the colonial period but no proof was traced as to its usage.

"Till now, we never got a concrete answer to the building of this look-alike chimney. There is no trace of burn marks in the four walls inside the building. Therefore, it was not meant to be a chimney.

"Some said it looked like a clock tower, but when we checked the condition, there was no trace of clock hanger or screw to indicate the presence of a clock.

"This place remains a mystery till todate. We, therefore, built a museum next this chimney, to let visitors have some knowledge and background of its existence," Mahathir told a visiting delegation comprising tour industry and media representatives.

Earlier, during a visit to Klias on the mainland, Tourism Malaysia Sabah Director Sani Sham Ahmad said there was an abundance of good products to attract tourists, saying each district had their own uniqueness.

"We have ample good products to promote Sabah but we need media as our bridge to connect us in reaching out to the world," he told the fam group.

For example, there are no trains available in Sarawak. Therefore, why not we promote train rides as one of our local products and package it with other interesting activities for Sarawakian tourists. This way, we are creating awareness to our Malaysians that we too have a lot to offer," he said.

The Sabah Tourist Association (STA), in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture (Motac), Tourism Malaysia, Sabah, Labuan Corporation and MASwings organised the Business Networking & Product familiarisation trip.

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