HOMESTAY PROGRAMME GIVES EXTRA INCOME FOR RESIDENTS IN MENGKUANG TITI

By Muna Khalid
BUKIT MERTAJAM (Malaysia), Aug 13 (Bernama) -- From an unknown Malay village in Permatang Pauh, Mengkuang Titi is now known among foreign tourists for the hospitality of its people.

The village, which is in the Seberang Perai Tengah district, about 25km
from northern city of Butterworth, has been attracting guests from all over the
world for its homestay programme, introduced in 1997.

It has been 10 years since, but the programme has yet to bring the desired
effects for participating residents, at least to Mohd Nor Ariffin, 55.

"The extra income I get from the programme is only about RM300 a month," he
said.

Mohd Nor, who earns about RM1,000 a month as a contract worker, said the
extra income came in handy , especially for his 18-year-old son, Mohd Nizam, a
computer engineering student at Universiti Putra Malaysia.

A restaurant operator in the village, Mohamad Mohd Nor said his restaurant
would provide food and beverages for members of tour groups arriving in the
village.

For homestay participants, like Mohd Nor and Mohamad, their hope is to have
tourists arriving continously in the village, for that will bring income for
them.

They want efforts be made to further promote the Mengkuang Titi homestay
programme.

They also want the elected representative in the constituency to help
obtain funds from the government to improve the programme in the
village.

Residents in Permatang Pauh will go to the polls on Aug 26 to elect their
new member of parliament to replace Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who resigned last
month to make way for her husband, opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)
Advisor Anwar Ibrahim, a former deputy prime minister, to re-contest the
seat.
-- MORE

PERMATANG PAUH-HOMESTAY 3 BUKIT MERTAJAM

Meanwhile, chairman of the Mengkuang Titi Cooperative, Rohaizat Othman,
said 35 houses, belonging to the cooperative members, were involved in the
homestay programme under the State Sate Tourism Council Action Committee.
"The requirements include that the houses must be clean, tidy and have a
room specially for tourists," he added.
He said the response to the homestay programme had been encouraging, with
tourists arriving in the village every month, especially from the United States
of America, Thailand, Japan and Spain.
"The arrival of the tourists means extra income for the participating
families," said Rohaizat.
He said each house could accommodate two tourists at a time and the charge
was RM50 a night per person, inclusive of breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Rohaizat said the government, through the Bumiputera Coordination Unit, had
allocatted between RM5,000 and M12,000 for repair of participating houses to
ensure convenient stay for tourists.

He said cultural programmes, as well as campings, were also organised in
Mengkuang Titi, which had so far attracted 274 tourists between January and
April this year.

The homestay programmme is one of the physical development programme under
the Implementation and Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister's
Department.

The programme is implemented by the Penang Bumiputera Participation
Coordination Division with the cooperation of the Penang Regional Development
Authority and the district office.
-- BERNAMA