Miri, Sarawak


When Miri was designated a city 5 years ago, it was already making history in Malaysia; the 1st Resort City in Sarawak and also the only noncapital city in the country! In fact, its tag as resort city is no gimmick either – this is the centre for relaxation, adventure, shopping, diverse cuisines and staging point for multitude of places to visit in the vast hinterland, from the World Heritage Site of Gunung Mulu National Park to Bario, Ba’ Kelalan highlands and remote settlements of indigenous peoples. This is also the city, which can truly claim to have highest diversity of ethnic groups working, living harmoniously in a single venue The city council also had the Vision to make Miri a ‘Green’ city. Today it is leading every other Malaysian city in such endeavours. Firstly, its no free plastic bags everyday campaign is being carried out at the city centre shopping centres, an environmentally planned decision aimed at reducing plastics from piling up in the dumping ground. It has also been found that floating plastic bags can be fatal to marine animals like turtles that choke on them apart from contributing to rubbish eyesore when they washed ashore. Miri city hall has also targeted to replace 17,500 street lighting with LED lighting which consume less energy, last longer and reduce carbon footprints too. To encourage use of non-polluting vehicles, the city has planned to construct bicycle lanes from Taman Selera to the City Fan and further extend these to other parts of the city. The vision of a city with minimal pollution from combustion engines is slowly becoming a reality here!

Miri City Council was awarded the Chief Minister’s Quality Award 2009, the top State Civil Service Award, out performing the 150 government departments taking part in the prestigious annual event which in the previous year where only 70 departments took part. In a recent rally to mark the 5th anniversary of the city, 5 new Malaysia Book of Records were made, namely “The most number of ethnic groups in a performance outdoor,” “The most number of seasonal drums in a performance,” “The most number of lion dance in a lion dance performance,” “The most eco bag used for outdoor shopping in a stadium” and “The biggest Jalur Gemilang (national flag) made of beads.” In addition, the Miss Tourism Intercontinental World Grand Final 2010 was also held in the city, further strengthening the city’s claim of a tourism venue as the 32 beauties from around the world paraded for shutterbugs and others in the indoor stadium on City Day. Symbolic too is the earth-breaking ceremony of the building project for the new iconic 9 storey City Hall, thereby adding another dimension to the city’s attraction and appeal. Miri is also boosted by the presence of Curtin University where over 3000 international and Malaysian students are pursuing courses and studies in various disciplines. The university is now in its 11th year of operations and has certainly made Miri into a more metropolitan place with the influx of foreign lecturers, students and others. Not to be forgotten too is Shell Sarawak; the company, celebrating its 100th Anniversary has over 5000 employees in the city. Other big names in the oil and gas business here are Nippon Oil, Murphy Oil and Halliburton. The international marina centre here is also an attraction for sailors to drop anchor here while exploring the vast number of destinations in the surrounding hinterland. Depending on your choice, Miri is the destination for everyone as there are so many different reasons to visit; it is a resort city living up to its name!