Labuan is Malaysia's Phuket

Browsing the local newspapers while sipping my 3 10 drink at the Kionsom Waterfall yesterday, a letter in the Home/Forum page of the Borneo Post caught my eyes. The gist of the letter is that Labuan is now a haven for guest relations officer (GRO)which earned the Federal Territory of Labuan a new tag `Phuket of Malaysia'.

It was said that the Immigration Department had approved 800 new work permits to foreign women to work in 30 entertainment outlets in Labuan. The women are from the Philippine, Thailand and Indonesia.

These GROs are said meant for expatriates working at oil and gas companies or foreign companies operating in the island. These expatriates are said to find a place to have fun after a day of hard work and therefore the need for GROs and the many outlets for them to get entertainment.

And apart from the 800 new legal GROs, it is said that there are over 1,000 foreign women who are working without proper documents and illegally working as GROs.

My Say:

GROs and cheap beers, a perfect match. How Labuan had progressed since made a Federal Territory on April 16, 1984!

Soon to be history

Information Communication Technology has overtaken the traditional theatre/cinema business in the Federal Territory of Labuan. Lido Theatre at the junction of Jalan Muhibbah/Jalan Tun Mustapha will soon be demolished for the development of a 100 rooms 10-storey hotel.

Gone will be the place where lovers hang about, a place for family entertainment for so long. The premier entertainment house those years has been part of the past of most locals. It has been sold by its owner Kinabalu Cinema Sdn Bhd to a Sarawakian businessman for RM3 million.

Lido Theatre which was later named Wilayah was the only surviving cinema after two others Victoria Theatre and BFO Cinema had closed shop several years ago.

My Say:

My tour of duty for many years made me travel to Labuan and had never missed patronising the theatres. With the last to go, save for the cheap beer (compared to the price elsewhere) down memory lane will be gone forever.