The Asia's first Legoland

Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB) will sign a deal tomorrow with the Lego Group, the Danish manufacturer of interlocking plastic bricks, to develop the theme park in Nusajaya.The theme park, an integral component of Iskandar Malaysia, will be Lego Group’s fifth after Billund in Denmark, Windsor in the United Kingdom, Carlsbad, California, in the United States and Günzburg in Germany.

The skyline of Iskandar is set to change once the 200ha project, with an initial investment of RM800 million, is completed.Legoland will be one of the three theme parks to be built in Nusajaya.Sources said IIB was negotiating with other global theme park players to set up operations in this economic region in southern Johor.They are Universal Studios and Disneyland.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will witness the signing of the deal between Lego and IIB.Legoland theme parks are built from Lego’s interlocking plastic bricks of different colours to create mini structures such as buildings and vehicles, among others. At the Cityscape property exhibition in Dubai in October, IIB managing director Arlida Ariff had been reported as saying that three theme parks were being considered in Iskandar.

“We have learnt from the Disneyland Hong Kong’s experience, which is operating with insufficient visitors and revenue. It is better and more appealing to operate a cluster of theme parks.“If Iskandar has only one theme park, visitors from Singapore may return to the republic the same day.

“We want them to stay at least one or two nights so that there would be multiplier effects on the economy.” The plan at Nusajaya is to have a core theme park and a few smaller theme parks. About 1,200ha have been set aside for theme parks, including supporting commercial developments.

Monsoon Cup Terengganu 2008

Monsoon Cup was first initiated by the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi during his fishing trip in Terengganu with the state Chief Minister Dato Seri Idris Jusoh and state EXCO Dato' Wan Hisham. The Prime Minister thought the monsoon season should be used as an advantage to the state and her people rather than being seen as a hurdle.(Monsoon season last a few months a year in Terengganu mainly between November and January where the fisherman cant go out fishing due to strong waves.)This idea was then brought forward by the state government where later Dato Wan Hisham became the main organiser under T-Best Event which is a company owned by the state to run the event annually.

The Monsoon Cup 2005 celebrated its inauguration and debut as the 50th official event of the Swedish Match Tour (http://www.swedishmatchtour.com/), and serves as the Malaysian leg for the prestigious international sailing event. Dubbed 'The Formula One of Sailing', this professional sailing series was formed in 2000 to unite the world's best match-race regattas under one banner. The Wolrd Match Tour comprises nine events in nine specially selected locations around the world. As the leading professional sailing series in the world, the Tour events are recognized as must-attend regattas on the match-race circuit. The Monsoon Cup for the 2008 now offers the second highest prize money in the world (RM1 million) for a match racing event with the sponsorship of Mr Richard Mille of Richard Mille Watches. Richard Mille will also be the official time keeper for the event.The Monsoon Cup 2008 will be held at Pulau Duyong, Terengganu, from the 3rd to 7th December 2008.