Tourism minister Defends 'Cheap-Looking' Visit Malaysia 2020 Logo

Malaysian Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz. (Photo: AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka). Inset photo shows the Visit Malaysia 2020 logo released on Friday (Jan 26).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz said on Monday (Jan 29) that the Visit Malaysia 2020 logo will not be changed, even as more than 5,000 people signed an online petition for its removal. 

The multi-coloured emblem, which was unveiled on Friday at the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Chiang Mai, featured illustrations of a palm tree, the Petronas Twin Towers and animals wearing sunglasses. 

It also included the campaign tagline, "Travel. Enjoy. Respect", which aligns with a movement launched by the World Tourism Organisation in August last year. 

Netizens on social media derided the logo as "shameful" and "a joke".

Several opined that the ministry should have called for submissions from the local creative industry, members of whom have since posted their own versions online. 

As of Monday evening, a Change.org page petitioning the use of the logo had amassed about 5,500 signatures. The petition described the Tourism Malaysia logo as "appalling" and "cheap-looking". 

"(It) does not represent the country, the people and its history ... It makes a mockery of Malaysia and her rich history. It is alienating the rakyat. It has to go," it said. 

Despite the feedback, Nazri said he trusted the judgment of the ministry's in-house department and would not change the logo. 

"Every year, there are 1.5 billion people travelling overseas and it is these people that the logo was made for, not locals," he said. 

Nazri also broke down artistic reasoning behind the logo, explaining each element.

Screengrab from a Change.org page petitioning against the 2020 Tourism Malaysia logo. 

"We kept the Twin Towers, the orang utan, proboscis monkey and turtle because these are our symbols and it's what foreigners want to know about Malaysia when they come here," he told NST. "The Twin Towers are iconic to us like the Eiffel Tower is to Parisians." 

"On why these animals are wearing sunglasses, it is to show that Malaysia is a sunny country with beautiful beaches and that we are into conservation of the environment," he said. 

The minister added: "I can't be putting a serious logo. This is tourism and it's supposed to be fun." 

Source:channelnewsasia.com