Experience Labuan

History
The name Labuan was derived from the Malay word 'pelabuhan' or 'labuhan' which means port or anchorage. In the early 19th century, the British had its eyes on Labuan as it has the potential to become a commerce and naval base. They also felt that Labuan could become a place of refuge for ships damaged by pirates.

However, the Territory was under the control of the Brunei Sultanate. The British then negotiated with the Sultanate of Brunei for Labuan among other things. On December 24, 1846, Captain G.R. Mundy, commanding H.M.S. Iris, took possession of Labuan, making it one of British Empire's smallest colonies. By 1847, the British government concluded a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with the Sultan of Brunei and at the same time acquired Labuan.

When the island was ceded to Queen Victoria, there were only a few empty huts which were used by fishermen as a resting place. On August 1, 1848, Labuan was declared a free port and open to settlers. Port Victoria, now Labuan town, was chosen as the commercial area as naval officers considered that its anchorage to be the best for shipping.

However, the possession of Labuan as a colony did not meet the British's expectations. Acquired as a naval station, its port was seldom used as a base of operations. As an entreport, it also failed to attract heavy traffic except from the north coast of Borneo. Even its coal mines, located at the northern end of the island, were inefficiently operated due to the coal's worthless value.

Because of its failure, Britain wanted to abandon the colony. But they were afraid that other foreign powers would gain a stronghold in the area. However, by pulling out its presence, the British was afraid that other foreign powers would gain a stronghold in the area.

Labuan, by 1888 had become an embarrassment to the British. The public buildings were in shambles, no one wanted to stay there and the port received less and less traffic. Even the military had left the island 17 years earlier. Then on January 1, 1890, the British North Borneo Chartered Company took over Labuan. However, the fortunes of Labuan declined further.

In January 1906, the Colonial Office in London took over Labuan. The island became a part of the Straits Settlements - a British colony comprising Singapore, Penang and Malacca. During the next few years, Labuan continued to exist in its quiet way, still remaining a free port.

On January 1, 1942, the Japanese landed in Labuan without any resistance. On the third day, the Japanese formally took over Labuan and changed its name to Pulau Maida.

Three years later on June 10, North Borneo including Labuan was liberated from the Japanese Occupation when a Brigade of the Australian 9th Division landed on Labuan. At the time the island was freed from the Japanese, Port Victoria was in complete ruin. Practically every building in the town was destroyed by both naval and air bombardment. The Australians helped to rebuild Labuan as well as an entirely new wharf, known as Liberty Wharf.

Not long after that, Labuan ceased to be part of the Straits Settlement and became part of the North Borneo Colony under the Labuan Order-in-Council dated July 10, 1946. The island also lost its privileges as a free port and had to pay the same tariff conditions as the other ports in the Colony.

Due to these conditions, the island did not prosper. A decision to turn Labuan back to the status of a free port was made. On September 1, 1956, Labuan was reconstituted a free port by the Ordinance.

Among other things, the Ordinance states that 'Labuan means the Island of Labuan and its dependent islands: Rusukan Besar, Rusukan Kecil, Keraman, Burong, Papan and Daat. No customs import duty shall be payable upon any goods, other than intoxicating liquor, tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, and petroleum products, imported into Labuan. No customs export duty shall be payable upon any goods exported from Labuan. Customs import duty shall be payable upon all dutiable goods transported to other parts of North Borneo from Labuan. Customs export duty shall be payable upon all dutiable goods transported from other parts of North Borneo to Labuan'.

Up to August 30, 1963, North Borneo was administered under the provisions of the North Borneo Letters Patent. On August 31, 1963, North Borneo became self-governing and on September 16 the same year, the State - taking the name, Sabah - was made a State within the Federation of Malaysia.

On April 16, 1984, Labuan was proclaimed a Federal Territory of Malaysia. As a Federal Territory, Labuan comprises Labuan Island and the territories within 4.8 km of Labuan, including Pulau Rusukan Besar, Pulau Rusukan Kecil Island, Pulau Kuraman, Pulau Burung, Pulau Papan and Pulau Daat.

Economy
Labuan's economic growth mostly centred on the mining sector, which is largely represented by oil and gas production and the related industries. The sector is followed closely by the manufacturing and tourism sectors. Although the finance sector is still not a major economic contributor, its GDP contribution increased from 5.7% in 1991 to 7.1% in 1995. This is probably due to the increasing number of offshore companies that had set up office in Labuan, which is also an International Offshore Financial Centre (IOFC). T

he territory's GDP is estimated at RM145 million in 1991 and RM196 million in 1995. Labuan is expected to register an average GDP growth of 10.1 per cent per annum during the planning period 1995-2015. By the year 2015, Labuan's total GDP is projected to be RM1.335 million. The per capita income is also expected to go up from RM4.990 in 1995 to an estimated RM9,315 in 2015.

In all, Labuan will continue to prosper based on its aim to thrive as an IOFC, a commercial hub and tourist destination. Major GDP contributions are expected to be derived from the three sectors, namely tourism, finance and transport, with an estimated GDP share of 23.2%, 19.2% and 17.4% respectively in 2015. It is expected that the manufacturing and mining sectors will play a less significant role in the future.

Geography
The Federal Territory of Labuan comprises of one triangle-shaped island and six smaller ones. Situated at the north of Brunei Bay and faces the South Chine Sea, Labuan covers an area of 95 sq km. Most of the island is flat and undulating, the highest point being 85 metre.

Climate
Warm, sunny days and cool nights all year round with occasional rain in the evenings. Temperature ranges from 24°C to 34°C. Humidity is usually exceeds 82.3%. Annual rainfall is 3,500 mm.

Source:www.labuantourism.gov.my

Putrajaya

Putrajaya has become the new capital city near Kuala Lumpur. It was formerly known as Perang Besar and is located 25 km south of Kuala Lumpur. It's also 20 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at Sepang in the south.
Putrayaja is the new Administrative Center of the Government and will be a test bed for an electronic Government (a paperless administration) and will be equipped with the latest telecommunication technologies. It is set to be a model garden city with sophisticated information network base on multimedia technologies.

Kuala Lumpur is still the financial and commercial capital of Malaysia. About 70% of Putrajaya is still nature. Lush greenery, botanical gardens are spread across the landscape enhanced by large bodies of water and wetlands. Five confluences meet at the north forming a main waterway which flows across the city area.

At the North of the Core Area is the Government precinct located. Also the most of the Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies. The office of the Prime Minister’s complex "Perdana Putra" is situated at a vantage location, overlooking the Dataran Putra, which marks the beginning of the Putra Boulevard.

Situated next to a lake, it incorporates Islamic architecture from countries such as Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Morocco. The mosque consists of a 116m tall minaret and can accommodate 15,000 people. The minaret is 116 meters tall and one of the striking features of the minaret is that it was designed after the Sheikh Oman Mosque in Baghdad.

Its five-tiers represent the five pillars of Islam and its five call to prayers. Within its premises is the VIP Room Gallery, the Al-Quran Manuscript Museum, a library, auditorium and exhibition hall as well as a seminar room. It also has a large courtyard called the “Sahn” dedicated to commemorate the life of the Prophet. The main entrance to the mosque is patterned after the gates of Persia.

Putrajaya is a prestigious project of the Government.
They started when Mahathir was prime-minister and now, Badawi will fish the project.

In the centre of the city are beautiful buildings. Outside the centre you find the houses of the people, who work for the Government.
In the center is a large boulevard. At one end there's the office of the prime-minister Badawi and at the other end is the PICC.
At the boulevard are beautiful offices, the stones on the road are coloured and even the lampposts are magnificent.

The PICC is the Putrajaya International Convention Center. This is a beautiful building for international conventions.

The building has already a local name: the cowboy hat.

Langkawi Smooth Sailing

Dutch visitor, Thomas Kothuis gathers a few sailing buddies to discover that the 99 islands in the Langkawi archipelago offer more than just a holiday in the sun, surf and sand. They charter a Sunsail yacht with a skipper who is familiar with the local waters for a relaxing five-day sail around the main island and to several of the outer islands. The group enjoys the peace and tranquility of the near-deserted islands as well as some of the good life at two Langkawi marinas.

We had been searching the web for different sailing options in Malaysia and found an international yacht charter company called Sunsail based on the island of Langkawi in northwest Malaysia near the maritime border with Thailand. Sunsail has operations all around the world and has now opened an office at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club.
The decision was made to sail with them since it was our first time in that part of the world and the company has a good reputation as it operates resorts and flotillas in many of the world’s best sailing destinations.

Langkawi was also chosen because we were hoping that the rainy season would give us some good wind, which is an essential ingredient for great sailing.

Langkawi was also chosen because we were hoping that the rainy season would give us some good wind, which is an essential ingredient for great sailing. The five-day trip was organised by one of the members of the group and the crew that went sailing was made up of a Swede, a Swiss, a German and three Dutch guys. All but one of us had extensive sailing experience but we decided that a local skipper would be engaged for the duration of the sailing expedition.

When we arrived at the Langkawi International Airport, we were met by a Sunsail representative and the yacht’s skipper. The skipper was hired so we could have a real holiday and not worry too much about things like where to moor, where not to and other essential local knowledge.

Sunsail also fully stocked the boat with all the food, drinks and supplies for the whole duration so this really saved us a lot of time. We stayed at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club for the first night and enjoyed the friendly facilities and the restaurant here.

The next morning we got ready and were out at sea by mid morning. We motored at first as we wanted to check out the larger multi-masted boats which were anchored in the bay. Langkawi really has a lot of yachts moored here and our skipper told us that with four marinas, Langkawi is really becoming known as the centre for yachting in South East Asia.

Rain followed us and for the first two hours we got totally drenched. Not a good start we thought, but for usIt was cool to be able to walk around the island and see some monkeys in their natural habitat and check out the strange fruits growing on the trees. There wasn’t a soul in sight and we knew we were really in a tropical paradise far from the cares of the world. Europeans it was a welcome reminder that we were in the tropics and although wet, we were still warm and having fun.

Skippy took us to a few of the smaller islands around Langkawi and we anchored off one with a small white beach and made our first Robinson Crusoe beach landing in the boat’s dingy. It was cool to be able to walk around the island and see some monkeys in their natural habitat and check out the strange fruits growing on the trees. There wasn’t a soul in sight and we knew we were really in a tropical paradise far from the cares of the world.

Days slipped past and none of us could remember what day it was and more importantly, nobody really cared. We continued our sailing around the main island and had some amazing sailing days with really strong wind as well as some days with no wind at all, which were used to swim and relax.

We anchored off islands each night, cooked barbecues on the back of the boat and on some nights, we would come ashore.

One of the most picturesque moorings was the small but beautiful marina called Telaga Harbour. The facilities were amazing and the harbour master and his crew were very helpful and friendly. This place is going to develop into one of Langkawi’s main attractions as the bars, restaurants and shops lining the marina attract One of the most picturesque moorings was the small but beautiful marina called Telaga Harbour. The facilities were amazing and the harbour master and his crew were very helpful and friendly.many holidaymakers from the surrounding hotels as well as sailors.

The last night was spent in a spectacular location, surrounded by mangroves. It’s called "hole in the wall" and it is an amazing large opening in a mass of rock which our boat could pass through and once you are through there are vast mangrove forests. Streams flowing in from the sides create canals through which small boats take tourists around to see eagles fish, big bat-caves as well as the many wonders of the mangrove forests. It was an excellent place that even had a few small restaurants on stilts with their own fish farms.

It’s called "hole in the wall" and it is an amazing large opening in a mass of rock which our boat could pass through and once you are through there are vast mangrove forests.We had one of the small boats collect us that night and take us through the darkened mangroves at high speed to one of Langkawi’s better-known Thai restaurants called Barn Thai. We accessed the restaurant via a plank onto the jetty since it was low tide and the boat could not get into the jetty. The boat driver and his son joined us for dinner and we had a fantastic evening feasting on seafood cooked with Thai spices.

It always seems that holidays are never long enough. On our five-day sailing trip around Langkawi we barely scratched the surface of what is possible here. We calculated that we had visited about five islands in the group so we still have many more to explore when we return