The Old Mall

In its heyday, The Mall was the one. The main, the biggest mall in town. The opening ceremony back in 1987 was spectacular. Rumour has it that the firework show alone cost more than RM 1 mil. And I must say back then, The Mall was the place to be and to be seen. They had all the main brands and shops. The eateries there were excellent. One of the main feature of the place was the huge glass roof over the main foyer.

It was one of the place I would go to when I was back in KL during school breaks, either with my parents to shop, or to meet up with friends. Even back then, getting there was a challenge due to lack of public transport. I remember walking all the way there with my friends all the was from Pertama Complex, without much as breaking a sweat.

With the opening of bigger malls such as Mid Valley, 1-Utama, and of course more recently Suria KLCC and Pavilion, The Mall certainly appeared dated. Shops there started to close and the main brands shun the place, electing to open business around KLCC instead. The crowd also changed …. it was fast becoming groupies hangout.

A few years back, the Sunway group acquired the place and in May this year closed the mall for renovations. The glass roof was removed and this afternoon, on my way to PWTC for the motor show, I saw how bare the place was stripped. The new look mall would be renamed Sunway Putra Mall, and opened for business in January 2015.

Will it return to its glory days? I must say that I would bet against it. It may turn into a niche mall but it would never be able to compete with the likes of 1-Utama and Pavilion. I would however would be more than happy to be proven wrong .....

Meeting was Over

It was finally over. Luckily, this time around, traffic was not an issue. I remembered in the last few UMNO meetings, the road was practically a gridlock, especially at around 7, as the VIP were leaving the site, all with their accompanying police escort. At least, I have not seen any of those escorts this time around. But maybe because I tended to leave for home a bit later lately.

Regular readers to the blog understood my pet hate of the outriders. The Politicians used this unnecessarily in my opinion and it should only be used when they are absolutely needed. I tended not to give way to them. For me, it was not a matter of life and death. It was sad that people tended to give way to these jokers than they do to passing ambulances.

This year, despite not being the election year, the UMNO meeting had its share of excitement, no less with the Feedlot controversy, and the fiery speech from the Women Wing Head. Great stuff.

KLIMS 2010 - The Rest

I want that hair!After writing about the good and the bad, I thought I might as well mention the rest of the goings-on at the exhibition. The first thing which strike me was the number of people lugging their dSLR around the place. Of course, there were female models to be photographed. They were certainly willing to have their photo snapped up, and flash were firing from all angle.

There were also plenty of nice - but expensive food - available to buy, all strategically located. There were also plenty of young couples carrying babies in prams walking around, which made for a nice change. There was a few side-shows taking place, a comedy act from abroad was there at one of the foyer. There was also the obligatory lucky draw - the winner will get to drive home a Toyota Prius.

Will I go again next year should this be an annual event. Most definitely, as I like exhibitions and I would like to do my bit in supporting the local events. I wished that the venue would be more suitable traffic-wise and the entrance fees were less steep. They could also do with a more aggressive promo rather than rely on the mass media to do the talking. Some sort of roadshow would have been great!

The most impressive presence for me was definitely Proton. They certainly made a clear effort to make the motor show a success. The general acceptance of the vast choice of green technology was also great, couple with the news that hybrid vehicle will in the future enjoy some level of tax benefit. The Toyota Pruis would set you bacy arounf RM 140K which I thought was very reasonable.

The rather nice looking ElgrandI would also like to recall a conversation I had with a Nissan salesperson when I was refused the chance to sample the latest incarnation of Elgrande. He initially claimed that it was off-limits as not to disappoint the local in case the market version later would be of different spec to the one on show. I told him, the public nowadays were more savvy. There are internet and forums to find those details out and the main reason why the public attend motor shows were to get their hands dirty, soil the seats and sample the product first hand. Denying them this chance was plainly insulting. After a while, he admitted that the current model may not be available to the general public and the reason why there were on show was just to please their more senior executives. That I thought was brutally honest, and for that reason, I will not publish his name …..

Hmmm! Chicken Hut ke Pizza Hut?I spend two hours there, and I was glad that I did. At least this writer agreed with me.

KLIMS 2010 - The Bad

The gimmick-in-chief - BumblebeeOne might think that my entry yesterday was overly optimistic. I hope to balance things out today. As I mentioned, the exhibition was not perfect, and sadly, it was not of international standard, not due to organisation, but due to participation, or lack of it. None of the top marques were on the parade. There was no Mercedes - apart from the models brought by Naza which was on a look only, no touch basis. There was no BMW. There was no Volvo. There was no Audi. There was no Citroen. Well, you got the picture. Those who were present were of middle rung rather than the top brands.

I have made my point of the female models on parade everywhere. It was to the extend that they may be the main attraction. To add extra ‘pulling’ power, the organiser also had to resort to the usual gimmick of the bringing in element of the extravagance it to augment the situation. The local motor show then become synonymous with ‘BatMobiles’, and for the extra umph, they brought in Bumblebee this time around. Well the charm would soon wear off, and for those who actually came to visit to see a car show, this may not cut it! We go to motor shows to see cars …… well, that was what we hoped for.

This boy certainly knew what he was looking for - a lorry!I was very clear as to what I was looking for when I enter the show floor. We were looking for two things, the first being car interior accessory. Our minivan was a reconditioned Estima from Japan and I was exploring as to whether we can get the entertainment and navigation systems upgraded, or at least updated. Puan Anita also wanted to get some interior trimmings done … well, typical girl’s stuff. The second half of the first hall seemed to be filled with accessories, but they were keener on exterior parts - lights, flywheels, tinting, aerodynamics etc. There were also a few stalls doing GPS tracking and alarm device, which we already had installed. We managed to pick up a few contacts which we will check out in the coming weeks.

The BatmobileThe second item on our list was to survey for a new small car for 2012. I think my Kelisa will pick up by then. It was close to 10 years now and it has been a great servant. We have already have a saloon as well as the minivan. Therefore, I just needed a small car to ferry me to work and meetings. Maybe another Perodua or a new Proton. I ended up falling in love with a Honda hybrid. My point here is, without a clear map, one may not be able to find what they were looking for, will not learn of the choices they had in front of them. Maybe, with the ticket, the organiser should provide a promo or goody-bag. Something basic, full of sponsor logos, filled with product info, maps and brochures. Again, a missed opportunity. Some mugs or memorabilia would not go to waste I was sure.

Less of this please - the look ony, no touch policy from NazaThe layout could have also been improved. A designated area for special interest a la the area for motorcycles would be great. Maybe we should have one big hall dedicated for just green technology, rather than each car maker having a small space on their floor plan where the hybrids were featured. We, as the visitors seemed to have to go to each and every vendors, and possibly track back if we wanted to compare the specs. Hand-outs and brochure were also limited at each stalls, and even if they had some give-aways, there were no bags for us to stow them into. The can do well with separate area for accessories, compact, SUVs, MPVs and luxury saloons.

The next issue I had was the entrance fee. RM10 may be more acceptable. RM20 was a downright rip-off, especially on the TV, the organisers believe that such exhibitions is important to market the motoring products in order to expand the local market. If so, it should be us the public to pay for their expansion. The entrance fee should be heavily subsidised by the vendors instead. We certainly do not owe them anything to put on such show. The venue could also be better. Let me be bold to suggest that it should be held, say in Putrajaya or even KL Convention Center, to do without the traffic nightmare which a lot of people were complaining about. I was quite surprised that there were hardly any traffic police presence. Maybe there were no VIP visiting on the day.

At even tackier exhibit - a 1Malaysia child bucket seat, signed by a Minister.I visited the show on a public holiday, and with planning, the organiser should make the day’s event more family orientated. There were extra floor space I observed which can be filled for kids activities, maybe have clowns walking around the show floors to keep them entertained. Maybe some balloons and face-painting. Just a thought. It was pretty clear that more thought be put in to identify the target audience. There should also be satellite promotion site for instance KLCC and Bukit Bintang to spread information to the public as to what the show was about. I dread to think that the organiser has felt that it has been such a successful event, that there were no need for more audience.

All in all, there were weaknesses which should be looked into. I think this should be made into an annual event, may be at an alternative venue. More thought need to be given as to identify their target audience to maximise the experience as well effort made to attract the top marques in. We certainly can do with less of the Naza attitude of only see but no touch. It was frankly so 90s. 

KLIMS 2010 - The Good

I found what I was looking for very quickly!It was Awal Muharram today. A public holiday. I spend lunch at a cousin s wedding - from my large Penang clan, and had a free afternoon. Puan Anita and I had been meaning to visit KLIMS - Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show - since we learned about it a couple of months ago. We did not have much expectations as this would be the first time we would attend such event here in Malaysia. We had been to the UK version on numerous occasions when we there and sort of understood what the deal was. Reading the tweets from the morning, it soon become clear that traffic is always going to be an issue. PWTC was but around 25 years back and traffic getting in and out of the place has always been a problem back then, and waiting for 25 years without doing much would not improve matter. Public transport is actually poor to and from the venue. Getting a cab? Forget it.

a RM20 entrance fee, and no tit-bitsAt the main ticketing boothAfter getting the boys ready to stay at home with the maids, we ventured out. We planned to go to Bukit Bintang, but was willing to take the chance to drive by PWTC to survey the traffic. As we approached the place, there were hardly any queue. We took the turn and got a parking spot at The Mall, opposite PWTC without much hassle. Out we went, queued up for tickets - cost us RM20 each - will comment about that later. There was no floor plans provided with the ticket, but we soon learned that there was no real need for one.

Hmmm! Where to go?The Perodua concept car. Pretty neat!The Perodua prototype was quite a looker. And I was not referring to the female model!The exhibition was held over five large halls. The first one was dominated by Perodua, with some accessories stalls at the back end. The second hall was Proton as the main host. Third floor was where the Harley-Davidson stalls were located - full of people as we expected, plus exhibit from Naza - on a look but no touch basis of course. Nobody there can really afford to pay close to RM500K for the Brabus models on show. Upstairs to Hall 4 was mainly by Mitsubishi and Hyundai. Mitsubishi had a few new models of electric vehicles. The new Pajero also looked quite nice. We spent some time at the Starex booth before proceeding to the last hall. Dewan Perdana hosted Honda, Toyota and Hyundai. This was where the Hybrid models were put on show.

The most popular booth on show - 'Kaunter saman PDRM'Before I go on, everybody must be thinking where the photos of the female models were. Well, since we only half-hearted in planning to go to see the exhibit, I did not bring my dSLR. So, all the pix here was from my trusty iPhone 4. The models can also be divided into two groups. They were all good-looking. The ones at the car manufacturer booths were very decently-dressed and decently-behaved. They were very tasteful and some of them introduce the car model to the public with a mike through the PA system. The ones at Proton booth were classy even. The tacky ones were actually by accessory booths. First of all, they were not even necessary there. Their main purpose was to attract attention and personally, I feel sorry for them. It did not stop the guys snapping away with their cameras though - I thought at least 60% of the male visitors there have SLR on them!

I must credit Proton for making their presence felt in a classy wayThe TuahAs one of the anchor exhibitor, I thought Proton did a very good job. Their booths were simple but elegant. They had many new upcoming models on show, including the five of the Malacca Warriors - The Hangs Tuah, Jebat, Kasturi, Lekir and Lekiu. The sales team was also very polite in answering questions. They answered almost all of my queries concerning the engine capacity and expected roles of each models. There was also a few Lotus cars, with a long-suffering Mat Salleh by its side. Long-suffering as he is an Ipswich Town supporter and Proton sponsors Norwich City, their local rival. He also hates Roy Keane, the current Ipswich manager. Poor man!

The classy-looking Proton showspaceShowcasing the TuahThe KasturiThe Proton booth also handed carry-on bags for each visitors, but they were empty. For me, it was a missed opportunity as ideally it should be filled with brochures and product informations.

The scary-looking Green ZoneThe Mitsubishi electric hybrid. Careful it stares back!The Green ZoneThe scary-looking Mitsubishi electric carNavigating through the place was not a problem, due to the combination of well-placed signage and an uncluttered layout of the the venue. The fact that there was not that many exhibitors also helped - more about that in my later entry. There was also plenty of emphasis on green technology which can only be a good thing if one knows how to use it. Mitsubishi s electric car hybrid was quite interesting. Proton also produced a hybrid concept, but according to the sales team, is still a prototype. However, the hybrid champ was still Toyota which brought in a few new models to add to their already popular Prius. Honda was also not far behind with their green model and the one which caught my eyes was the CR-Z, a hybrid sport coupe. Gorgeous car, but not much information as to when it will be available - if ever - locally. I will definitely give it a serious look should in the future as the hybrids enjoy some tax benefits. Another product which caught Puan Anita s eyes was the Honda UX-3 unicycle. I did not get a chance to see a demo, but more can be read in this article here from the Star article - Honda dazzles visitors with U3-X

The Honda CR-Z - I want one!Close-up of the hybrid engineOn a personal level, even though the exhibition was no UK Motor Show, it was not as bad as the publicity suggested. Yes, there were a few tacky attraction - I did not much attention to Bumblebee - minus Megan Fox of course - and the Batmobile. If I new about it earlier, I could ve come over in the Joker s make-up! Granted, there were many weaknesses, but we as the public should support such an event. Please read my next couple of entries - The Bad and The Rest.

The KLIMS is open until 12th December until 10pm. For more information, please click here.