Not in a forest reserve, smart city, trekking trail, or meditation centre.
But at Legoland, the first in Asia, in Johor Bahru, at the southern tip of Peninsula Malaysia, genuine sustainability lies in how we treat our children—the future generation we all seem to care so much about.
Genuine sustainability is hundreds of children playing happily together in a safe, secure environment where they can grow, learn, and coexist in peace, harmony, and innocent friendship.
A place alive with the mind-soothing peals of laughter, children excitedly queuing up for a “driving lesson” or hurtling down one of the chutes at the water-park, licking ice-cream cones, screaming at every twist and turn of a roller-coaster.
No hangups, no prejudices, no agendas, no walls, no barriers. Arabs, Chinese, Russians, Indians, ASEANites, Europeans — speaking a babble of languages.
Family members, including a few aging-society grandparents like us, accompanied everyone. This is sustainable, responsible, meaningful, and regenerative tourism all rolled into one.
At Legoland, a veritable Darussalaam (“Abode of Peace” in Arabic). In addition to the fun and games, kids spend hours figuring out riddles, connecting the dots, solving puzzles, learning about nature and culture.
Free of violent super-heroes and fearsome dinosaurs. A place to reset the value of time. To refresh and rejuvenate, far more effectively than any spa or health & wellness retreat.
My wife and I spent two relaxing days with our grand-twins, both boys aged 11. While the kids ran around, my wife read a book or napped.
I got a lot of work done, giving birth to a new slogan “Work from Legoland.” Back home, our son and daughter-in-law gained three days to catch up on backlog and recalibrate their lives.
It was a combined celebration of childhood, parenthood and grandparenthood — priceless memories to be cherished forever. Verily a life-changing and game-changing experience.
We learned something new. One panel explained Legoland’s history and humble origins in 1932 as a wood-based toymaker in Denmark. Environmentally, recycling bins were omnipresent.
Socially, nearly all the women wore modest swimsuits. Not just the Muslims, but the Chinese, Indians and Caucasians, too.
The theme park also promotes ASEAN integration. One pavilion features miniature models of prominent historic and cultural landmarks of all the ASEAN countries, with easy-to-read interpretations.
Commercially, Legoland is a seasonal attraction with deep peaks and troughs in visitation over non-holiday periods. That opens up multiple opportunities to turbocharge the business in line with prevailing societal, demographic, and travel trends.
Family and ageing-society travel are the “IN” things. Legoland and Johor Bahru could become hubs for both.
Regular forums, conferences could explore new trends and experiences on these themes, perhaps in cooperation with local, regional and global children’s organisations to raise funds for the millions of suffering children in many parts of the world. I would bet sponsors will queue up to provide support.
Family reunion and bonding campaigns could be launched via special passes for weekdays and non-peak periods. More comprehensive packages could be designed to include other destinations in Malaysia as well as Singapore and the Indonesian islands of Bintan and Batam, both easily accessible by ferry.
As this is the first Legoland in Asia, such comprehensive, innovative campaigns would mesh perfectly with Malaysia’s 2025 chairmanship of ASEAN, followed by the Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign. They will grow tourism to Malaysia, promote ASEAN socio-cultural integration and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Most importantly, they will help families, communities, and the Travel and tourism industry at large understand the value of peace, harmony, and coexistence.
Understand from a child’s perspective. Not a political or business leader’s. Nor a UN or government bureaucrat’s. If that works out, the get-rich-quick gold rush will follow.
Hundreds of new housing units, condominiums, and other forms of “development” are already sprouting. Infrastructure upgrades are being done to facilitate cross-border travel from neighbouring Singapore.
Calls for balance are already resounding worldwide. If Legoland and JB can get it right, it could prove to be an exemplary success story in the annals of tourism and national development.
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