LIMA 2009 and LIMA CARNIVAL

The LIMA (Langkawai International Marine and Aerospace) show has been around a couple of times but this time around ( 1st - 5th December,2009) the Ministry of Tourism has come in to give it a further boosting by holding a carnival centered at Kuah and Porta Malai. Let's see some pics as seen by a chance visitor ( a normal tourist w/o any special pass to enter the MIEC -Mahsuri International Exhibition Center- building in which the still exhibition is held) whose objective is to enjoy the sights and happenings in Langkawi.

At Kuah the Carnival site is quite prominent and any tourist staying in the main urban center of the island will not miss it. Nor can you miss the food fare, the exhibitions and the show to which everyone is welcome. Witness the random pics shown.



At Porta Malai, the Carnival and the Marine show sites are the same. Tourists going to Chenang and Awana Hotel will not miss the place, nor the MIEC building in which the still exhibition is held and from where the air show will be witnessed by invited guests with special passes ( VIPs NOT Tourists). So let's keep out of the building and focus on what you can see at the Carnival
site. A brief video clip will give you and idea of the scene and another on the site for the marine show.



Now that you already have an idea of the Carnival, suffice it to say that those places you saw were packed with visiors on day 1 and 2 which I witnessed. After visiting all the booths and watching the stage show one can settle down to a nice spread of delicious food as these people are doing:


What about the Marine and Aerospace show? I know you can read about them in the papers, giving the inside story which tourists are not privy to unless they follow the Press write-up. What I'm presenting is what the tourists are likely to see and complain about.

The airshow as seen from outside the airport runaway consists of just a few jetfighters (F 16, F 111 and the Sukhoi MG) and an attack heli (Apache) doing sume stunts in the air. Yes they perform the right angle shoot up into the air, the stop and the free fall, then the dive down, the loops and the upside down flight very smoothly. The B52 also did a short flyover. But that's about it! Unless you have an invitation to see the exhibition in the MIEC building, which I'm sure the tourists don't, the air show is just very ordinary. You could see a more thrilling one as a tourist in other countries. Some video clips may prove the point.




The Marine show takes place without much information or any commentary for the public. You just see from a distance what's happening as already shown in the previous Porta Malai clip. Here are two more showing a rescue operation which tourists watching from the shore could only appreciate with a lot of imagination.




Whilst the marine and aerospace technological achievements must certainly have been well illustrated, the LIMA show certainly falls short of attracting tourists with stunts, big screen coverage and commentaries, and episodic presentations that would be more breath-taking. That requires planning, ingenuity and creativity with a talent for the dramatics. The Ministry of Tourism may not be able to help in that area but some action-drama TV producers may be able to. The trick is you can certainly put up a more dramatic marine and aerospace show with less costs, if properly choreographed.