December 2018

Tourism Authority of Thailand and ICONSiam has collaborated to organise a New Year celebration in a scale never seen before. Together with other partners, have mapped out a plan to make the upcoming event a grand New Year celebration on December 31 from 6.00 pm where the venue will be at the River Park of ICONSIAM along the Chao Phraya in Bangkok.

The theme of the event by the riverside  “The River of Prosperity” will highlight eco-friendly firework displays covering a distance of over 1,400 metres.  It’ll be the first display ever in Thailand where, a total of one million people within the vicinity of two kilometers are expected to attend. There will also be entertainment activities of artists from both local and overseas.

Fireworks made from Thai sticker rice demonstrates the history of the Chao Phraya River pertaining to the Thai way of life, tradition and legends of Siam as a country. This five-minute fireworks display is composed of five acts:  Act 1 The River of Prosperity a display in silver, gold, and bronze colours held together consecutively; Act 2 The Siam Treasure of multiple shapes and colours; Act 3 The Blossom of Joy accompanied by Thai folk songs; Act 4 One World represents the flags of all countries; and Act 5 Thailand of the tricolours of the Thai flag.

Thai culture will be showcased at the event with a magnificent show of ‘Khon’ that is culturally grand and elegant recognised as a World Heritage by UNESCO. Throughout the years, this show has impressed a great number of tourists in Thailand.

The Cathay Pacific Group and the Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF Hong Kong) announced that a total of HKD11.7 million was raised from the Change for Good in flight fundraising programme in 2017.

This partnership according to Judy Chen, chairman of UNICEF Hong Kong, has engaged millions of Cathay Pacific passengers in contributing to UNICEF’s global mission of giving every child a chance to survive and thrive.

Rupert Hogg, Cathay Pacific’s chief executive officer mentioned that he is deeply touched by the overwhelming generosity of the passengers in enabling the airline, to raise nearly HKD190 million over the years of the Change for Good programme.

Since its launch in 1991, the programme has successfully converted spare change from Cathay Pacific passengers into supplies and services to improve the lives of vulnerable children worldwide. The airline has designated HKD2.73 million out of the total donation in 2017 to support UNICEF’s Schools for Asia programme in Myanmar and India.

The thematic programme which aligns with one of the airline’s key community engagement endeavours of promoting youth development aims to; provide quality and sustainable learning for children. A particular focus is on disadvantaged children who are less likely to receive education because of their gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic location or economic circumstance.

Summer of 2019 Cathay Pacific will offer daily a non-stop service to Seattle strengthening the only direct link between Hong Kong and the bustling city on the west coast of the United States.  Flown by the airline’s technologically-advanced Airbus A350-900 aircraft, the Seattle route is Cathay Pacific’s eighth to the United States that follows existing services to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York (JFK), New York (Newark), San Francisco and Washington DC.

Above:  Rupert Hogg, Chief Executive Officer, Cathay Pacific (2nd from right) and Director Customer, Simon Large (2nd from left) with UNICEF Hong Kong Chairman, Judy Chen (centre).

Top left:  Cathay Pacific employees visiting a kindergarten in Guizhou, China.

Top right:  Observing a class of girls attending school in Nepal.

The motor show returned this year at a bigger venue of 50,000 square metres of exhibition space at the Malaysia International Trade and Convention Centre over a period of 10 days with more than 300,000 visitors.  This year‘s theme ‘Beyond Mobility’ is the ninth installation of the event which saw new model launches, new automobile concepts, latest power train offerings including futuristic connectivity technology showcased by vehicle manufacturers.

Malaysia’s largest and most significant motor show traditionally KLIM, is a branding show where auto companies showcase their latest product offerings, automotive superiority and engineering visions.  This is in contrast to other motor shows in the region that are more of sales events.

On display were concept cars, new vehicle launches and previews, car shows, automotive product demonstrations, vintage and classic cars, lucky draws and celebrity appearance happened daily at the show.

Also Commercial vehicles made their presence felt with C.A.M, Isuzu, Daihatsu, UD Trucks and TATA Group bringing in an impressive showcase of workhorses.

‘Meet the Expert Talk’ during the show provided with visitors on know-how and technicalities on the workings of a car engine and shared their experiences and tips on the track and on the road.

The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) is the organiser of Kuala Lumpur International Motor (KLIM) Show.