THE CLOSING CEREMONY OF PENANG INTERNATIONAL FOOD FESTIVAL (PIFF) 2022
SPEECH BY THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG YAB TUAN CHOW KON YEOW
FOR THE CLOSING CEREMONY OF PENANG INTERNATIONAL FOOD FESTIVAL (PIFF) 2022
27 August 2022
Gurney Paragon
YB Yeoh Soon Hin
Penang State EXCO for Tourism and Creative Economy
YB Chris Lee
ADUN Pulau Tikus
YB Daniel Gooi Zi Sen
ADUN Pengkalan Kota
Dato’ Ar. Yew Tung Seang
Mayor of Penang Island City Council
Mr Ooi Chok Yan
Chief Executive Officer of Penang Global Tourism
Mr Jack Wong
Managing Director of TLM Event
Mr Jonathan Freddy P. Bagang
Director of Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, (MOTAC) Penang Office
Encik Azman Syah
Representative from Tourism Malaysia
Mr Tony Goh
Chairman of Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Penang Chapter
Board of Directors for Penang Global Tourism
Members of the Media
Ladies & Gentlemen
It’s my great pleasure to welcome all of you today for the closing ceremony of PIFF 2022. As a foodie myself, I have to say that this event is my personal favourite, and I’m very glad to be joining everyone here this evening.
When we talk about Penang, our food naturally comes to mind. Penang is well known for her very rich street food culture, which still plays an integral role in shaping our cultural identity.
Our food is regularly ranked amongst the best in the world, with Penang's assam laksa ranks No. 7 on CNN World's 50 Best Foods list and char koay teow and nasi kandar were honoured as among the Top 50 World Street Food Masters.
Penang’s food, coupled with our various attractions, has never failed to draw millions of tourists annually, especially since George Town was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in 2008. After the negatively impact brought by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, Penang is now poised to revive our tourism sector.
Since the reopening of our borders in April this year, international direct flights had increased by 783 percent from 12 in January to 106 weekly flights in July. We have also recorded an increase of 3573 percent in international arrival, from 3,465 tourists in January to 127,287 of them in June. Furthermore, Penang’s cruise market is showing a promising recovery. Penang Port has served 13 international calls totalling nearly 35,000 passengers just in July this year.
That's why PIFF remains an important event in our state's annual calendar. First inaugurated in 2017, the Penang International Food Festival has been instrumental in promoting Penang to locals and visitors by showcasing our world-renowned foodscape, from hawker culture to cafe, restaurant and hotel food scene through the major events which come under the Festival such as the Street Food Festival (SFF) and Taste of Penang (TOP) as well as a host of other mini festivals. At the same time, the PIFF is constantly evolving to keep up with the times by leveraging the state's diverse landscapes and introducing new and attractive concepts.
This year, the Festival also supported the Penang State Government's 'Opposite Side of the Island – Seberang Perai' campaign by launching the opening weekend of PIFF 2022 in Batu Kawan. The Festival has also successfully aligned itself with the Penang Tourism Master Plan by bringing the Festival across the island and mainland and to unique settings like the SPICE Rooftop Garden, Tropical Spice Garden in Teluk Bahang, Gertak Sanggul and KOMTAR Walk.
It is very exciting to see the revival of tourism in Penang and its economic benefits through PIFF 2022. The opening weekend of PIFF 2022 had welcomed some 170,000 festival goers, a feat that surpassed all expectations. The food for sale during the opening weekend were all sold out, generating income for our local businesses and small vendors.
Having said that, while it's important to focus on the economy in this post-pandemic era, we must also focus on rebuilding our family and community. As a family-oriented state, Penang places great emphasis on family ties and our societal well-being as a whole.
In line with our Penang2030 vision of a 'Family-Focused Green and Smart State that Inspires the Nation', PIFF fosters a strong and closely-knit sense of unity and community across Penang. This, of course, is done through a shared space for everyone to bond over food. As shown in the PIFF video we just watched, people from all walks of life and ages got together to share their love for Penang's food over the past seven days. PIFF is also a firm supporter of the recently launched ‘LovePenang’ campaign. It is definitely rewarding that all of us can make full use today’s event as an opportunity to express our undivided love and pride for Penang and our food culture while spending quality time with those who matter most to us – our family and friends.
Taking place today and tomorrow, Taste of Penang (TOP) – which is the closing event for PIFF 2022 – is dedicated to shine a well-deserved spotlight on the state's promising modern food scene by gathering some of the best F&B operators – cafes, hotels and restaurants – from all over Penang to be centred in one location, offering foodies the opportunity to discover the sheer diversity of Penang's modern foodscape.
Some of the state's best food trucks have pulled up here too, to share various modern flavours and tantalise your taste buds. The modern food PIFF offers you today is just a small selection of some of the most popular modern food we have in Penang, but enough for you to discover our modern food scene.
I don’t want to keep you from trying all the delicious food and beverages any longer. I sincerely hope you will have a memorable evening. In closing, thank you for having me today. I look forward to seeing you all enjoy the Festival and get curious to learn more about Penang's modern foodscape with your loved ones.
LovePenang & Love our food!
Thank you.