TRADITIONAL MALAY MASSAGE A HIT AT DUBAI TRAVEL FAIR

By Muin Abdul Majid

DUBAI, May 7 (Bernama) -- Traditional Malay massage practitioners, Mahdi
Faozi Barakbah and Pauziah Mat Jani, can count themselves as among the busiest
people at the Malaysia Pavilion at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2009
currently underway in Dubai.

Brought in by Tourism Malaysia to demonstrate to the world what Malay
massage is all about, their expertise do not go unnoticed as trade visitors and
exhibitors alike queue up to get head, back and foot massages.

Speaking to Bernama, Kedah-born Mahdi, 39, commended the tourism agency for
promoting Malay massage at such events, saying that it would increase awareness
among foreigners of the existence of the traditional art in Malaysia.

"Each time I go abroad, I'd always feel jealous to see how massages
originating from countries like Thailand have gained a foothold internationally.

"I think that given the right conditions, traditional Malay massage too can
make it big and draw more foreign tourists to Malaysia," said Mahdi, a
principal consultant with Tongkat Tua Enterprise, a company that specialises in
formulating and implementing training programmes in traditional Malay massage in
conjunction with the Higher Education Ministry.

He and Pauziah, his business partner, would trade tales about some
customers at the Dubai tourism show insisting on being massaged longer than the
average five to 10 minutes.

Mahdi had participated in similar events under Tourism Malaysia in
countries like Japan and Germany.

According to him, there were currently 500 Malay massage practitioners
registered with the newly set up Traditional Malay Massage Association of
Malaysia of which he is the
president.

He said many of them operated from villages, making it difficult for foreign
visitors to find them.

"We're talking to the Health Ministry to see how we can establish special
centres in strategic locations for easier accessibility," said Mahdi who had
helped train more than 1,000 people in the art of Malay massage via short-term
courses at the community colleges throughout the country.


There are four types of traditional Malay massage, namely wellness massage,
therapeutic massage, post-natal massage and massage for inner-body strength.

They help improve blood circulation, relieve aching muscles, enhance the
immune system, provide better body posture and reduce stress, as well as aid
relaxation.

Puchong-based Pauziah, who also operates a beauty salon, said this was her
first participation in a Tourism Malaysia event overseas and was encouraged by
the response to Malay massage in Dubai.

"I can see that there is ample opportunity for business in this part of the
world as the Arabs seem to like Malay massage a lot," she said.

Pauziah said she also provided post-natal massage which was gaining
popularity among the Chinese community in Malaysia.

-- BERNAMA