Legoland Malaysia Targets 1.5 Million Visitors
Lego Builders At Work
By Channel NewsAsia Malaysia Bureau Chief Melissa Goh | Posted: 09 July 2010 2035 hrs
NUSAJAYA, Malaysia : Asia’s first Legoland targets to attract 1.5 million visitors when it opens its doors at the end of 2012.
Located in Nusa Cermelang industrial park, within the Iskandar New Economic Region, the theme park will boast the tallest lego model in the world.
The backgrounds of the 22 young Malaysians – pioneer model builders for Legoland Malaysia – are diverse, coming from engineering, architecture, and fine arts.
They beat over 800 other job seekers at a recent hiring contest.
In the first round, contestants were given 25 minutes to copy a model of a seahorse.
“It was not difficult to find the people. We were amazed. What we really looking for is creativity obviously, but more so it’s teamwork, it’s the passion and the attitude that the people bring in to their role. That’s what we’re really looking for,” said Tim Burnell, Production Director, Merlin Entertainment.
25-year-old Mohd Firdaus was among the top six, who’ve returned from a short stint at the mother of all Legolands, in Billund, Denmark.
It’s a dream come true for the mechanical engineer, who had his first lego set when he was four.
Over 30 million bricks will go towards making 15,000 models that will be scattered across the 26-hectare theme park.
Being the first in Asia, it will feature many iconic buildings and structures familiar to the region, and in particular to Malaysia.
Work is also in progress to build the tallest model in mini land, but the exact details are still under wraps.
Already its developer, Iskandar investment, is excited. The CEO said when Legoland Malaysia is ready in 2012, it will offer a different experience from other theme parks, including Universal Studios in neighbouring Singapore.
“It would not be seen in competition with attractions that Singapore has, (which) deal with young adults-type of attractions. This is more family-based,” said Arlida Ariff, President/CEO of Iskandar Investment Berhad.
“It inspires people with a toy, and when they go away, they can build what they like with them (lego bricks). It’s a lot more interactive; there will be lego in queue lines and kids can play with it as they go along,” said Burnell. – CNA /ls