KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — The Malaysian Tourism Council (MTC) today feted international visitors to a ‘kuih raya’ (Aidilfitri cookies/cakes) feast.
The inaugural ‘MTC Greets The Tourists’ programme also included a demonstration on making ‘dodol’ (a type of confection).
Polish Danuta Maciej, 62, said she had the opportunity to try her hand at stirring the mixture for dodol, and tasting the traditional menu of the Malay community.
“I was surprised when told by the organiser that dodol takes six hours to make; that’s a long time indeed.
“I did taste it too and it was very sweet. A small portion was enough for me,” she said when met by Bernama here today.
Meanwhile, MTC president Uzaidi Udanis said since Malaysia was well known for its many festive seasons, it was therefore apt to hold the programme and exhibit the unique characteristics entrenched in the country’s celebrations, for foreign tourists to appreciate.
“Today is the first day of Hari Raya but in Kuala Lumpur, things are rather quiet as many of the city-dwellers had returned to their villages to celebrate, so we want the visitors to experience the gaiety associated with the joyous occasion,” he told reporters at Dataran Merdeka here where the event was held.
During the programme, 600 packets of dodol and kuih raya as well as 500 envelopes of ‘duit raya’ were gifted to the tourists, who were from countries such as China, Brazil, Indonesia and India.
Asked about the tourism tax proposed by the government, he said it was to improve the quality of the tourism sector in the country.
“Promoting the tourism sector is costly and because of that a continuous flow of funds is necessary to cover it from time to time,” he said. — Bernama
