Tourists love sunny Christmas in Malaysia

ISKANDAR PUTRI: Malls in Johor Baru have been beautifully lit and decorated, including with colourful decoration, such as artificial pine trees, to add merriment to the Christmas celebration.
To attract more customers, they are having huge discounts and attractive sales promotion.
A visit to several shopping centres and leisure centres in Johor Baru found out that the joyful spirit is not only for welcoming Christmas but also the coming of the new year.
At this time of the year, the shopping malls are crowded, not only with shoppers, but also foreign tourists, some of them intentionally coming to Malaysia to celebrate Christmas.
They said celebrating Christmas in Malaysia is no different than celebrating it in their home country.
A chief executive officer of a travel company in England, Mark Hanson, 44, said he and his family often celebrate Christmas in Malaysia.
"I have been commuting back and forth from England for the past 10 years because my wife and children are residing in Johor Baru.
"So, I often spent my Christmas holidays visiting them and it has become an annual celebration for the family.
"Celebrating Christmas in Malaysia is not different that in England, except that the weather here is hot," said.
Meanwhile, a company director, Peter Thomson, 50, from Australia, is in Johor with his wife and three children to celebrate Christmas.
"This is the first time we are celebrating Christmas in Johor, although we have been in Malaysia for three years.
"The people in Malaysia are very friendly and I really like living here. The price of food and cost of living in Malaysia is very cheap as compared to Australia.
"I also spent the holiday season travelling with my family and there are many resorts and leisure places in Johor that are family friendly," he said, adding that he was contemplating to buy a property in Iskandar Putri for his family to settle down.
Another Australian, Marcus Finnick, 46, said that Christmas is a much-awaited celebration as it is the time of the year when shopping malls offer huge discounts and attractive sales promotion.
"I work in an oil company and am literally a busy bee because I work throughout the year, except during the Christmas holidays, so I use this opportunity to take a stroll in Malaysia for cheap tourism attractions.
"I am from Australia and have lived in Iskandar Putri for two years," he added. — Bernama