MALAYSIA: Chinese Tourists May Sieze If East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) Is Scrapped

BN leader Najib Abdul Razak has warned that if the East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) is ever scrapped, then China will take punitive actions against Malaysia.

At an election campaign stop in Kuala Berang, Terengganu, today, Najib said the ECRL contractor, the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), is fully-owned by the Chinese government.

The opposition said that if they are in power, they want to cancel ECRL.

CCCC is 100 percent owned by the Chinese government.

If the project is cancelled, China will stop sending tourists to Malaysia.

Duty-free shops in Kenyir will be empty.

The restaurant owners will be wiping tables every day with no customers.

Ini bukan main-main, kawan-kawan said this is not a joke, my friends, the caretaker prime minister added.

Najib then recalled how a spat between South Korea and China last year had resulted in the latter banning package tours to Jeju island.

Chinese tourists reportedly once accounted for 80 percent of the visitors to Jeju.

The island is now reportedly deserted after the spat.

Consider the possibility of palm oil boycott.

Najib also urged his audience to consider the possibility of palm oil boycott by China.

They are our biggest customers for palm oil. If they don't want our palm oil, Felda will have to fold.

This is what is happening now. If we don't have clear policies, we are done for, he said.

Kuala Berang is a state constituency and a town near Lake Kenyir, which is part of the Hulu Terengganu parliamentary constituency.

Najib said although the ECRL does not run through the constituencies, the state will benefit, particularly from the 80,000 in total jobs that the project would offer.

Opposition leaders and economists have questioned the need and viability of the RM55 billion project, the most ambitious and expensive public infrastructure project ever, which is funded with soft loans from China.

Pakatan Harapan has promised to review the ECRL project, among other mega projects undertaken by the Najib administration.

Once completed in 2024, the ECRL will link Tumpat with Kuantan and Port Klang.


Tourism Observer

MALAYSIA: Malaysia Welcomes Luxury Cruise Ship

Mein Schiff 1, a Century class cruise ship made her maiden call to Boustead Cruise Centre (BCC), Pulau Indah recently

The vessel, which sailed from Langkawi arrived with a total of 1,870 passengers and 909 crew members on Nov 23. They received a warm welcome reception from Tourism Malaysia with bunga telur and a cultural performance.

As part of the cruise ship’s 22-night voyage from Dubai to Singapore, she had earlier made a stopover at Muscat, Oman; followed by Mumbai, India; and Colombo, Sri Lanka. The vessel left Klang on the same evening for Singapore.

The welcome reception by Tourism Malaysia is an effort under its Maiden Call programme, an annual activity to welcome ships berthing for the first time in Malaysia. It is part of Tourism Malaysia’s efforts to promote cruise tourism and to attract more ship operators to berth in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, in particular.

Over the last few years, Malaysia has seen an encouraging number of cruise ships calling at the country’s ports. Last year, a total of 421 international cruise ships with 352,322 passengers called at the country’s six primary ports, namely Port Klang, Penang, Melaka, Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.