THe Spring’s Homecoming CNY bazaar depicts 1970s Kuching
KUCHING: The ‘ Homecoming Chinese New Year Bazaar’ at tHe Spring Shopping Mall portrays the nostalgic sentiments of ‘Kuching in the 1970s’.
There are over 10 wooden street stalls with rustic designs at the bazaar, offering festive goodies from delectable cookies and salted egg yolk chips, to unique accessories and cheongsams.
The mall is also decorated beautifully – fit for any Instagram photos.
“I love this year’s theme ‘Homecoming’. As I understand, it is very important for Chinese families to come and feast together for the Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner,” said Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah at the official launch yesterday, where he represented Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
In this regard, the minister said with growing connectivity and having more direct international flights to the state capital, those working abroad would be able to travel back home easily, in time for their reunion dinners.
Singling out the recent ShenzhenKuching route, he expressed his hope to see more tourists from China celebrating their Chinese New Year holidays here.
“Kuching has so much to offer to tourists. People often relate Sarawak to eco-tourism attractions, but let’s work together to change that mindset. Sarawak can also offer quality retail experiences.”
He praised tHe Spring Shopping Mall for having such unique festive campaigns to deliver fresh shopping experiences of international standard, adding that visitors could include the mall into their itinerary as a muststop destination during their stay here, where they could shop, dine and even catch a movie.
“As we continue to improve the international connectivity to Kuching by exploring more opportunities to open up new routes, we also need to support efforts of local businesses that are
I love this year’s theme ‘Homecoming’. As I understand, it is very important for Chinese families to come and feast together for the Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner.
benefitting the tourism industry in Kuching, like tHe Spring.
“It’s a symbiotic relationship. Let’s work on putting shopping malls on the map and introduce malls as part of the tourism products in travel packages by tour agencies. When more money is spent by more tourists, it means more businesses; thus generating more avenues for investments.”
Meanwhile, tHe Spring Management Services Sdn Bhd general manager Datin Christine Ling said the ‘Homecoming’ theme was something that many people could relate to.
“Our festive decorations are heavily stylised to imitate Kuching back in the 70s, when the Chinese New Year holidays were not an opportunity to travel abroad and escape from the daily grind, but an opportunity for the people to go back to their hometowns to visit their families.
“We want our shoppers to come together to tHe Spring and relive the feeling of ‘ homecoming’ as they spend their time shopping at tHe Spring’s Chinese New Year Bazaar and exploring our ‘Little Chinatown’. Let us not lose sight of upholding these traditional values and heritage,” she said.
Ling said the group is committed to bringing more brands into the mall and creating a better mix of tenants to deliver a ‘ fresher shopping experience for everyone’.
“We have achieved 94 per cent occupancy and we are excited to announce the opening of Royal Sporting House and Miniso at tHe Spring by March this year.”
Ling said all these efforts are paying off as the overall 12-month shopping receipts rang in over RM347 million last year, despite the soft retail landscape.
Meanwhile, the highlight of the ‘Homecoming’ at tHe Spring Mall is the ‘Golden Toss’ – a classic game of tossing a ball to knock over a stack of cans to win a freebie from the selection of prizes. Customers get to play whenever they spend RM88 in a single receipt mall-wide this Feb 4 only.
Shoppers can also capture their ‘ Homecoming’ memories with their families this Feb 13 and 14 by getting their portraits taken at the Centre Court with Bespoke Photographics, when they spend RM100 in a single receipt mall-wide.
For purchases above RM388 in a single receipt from Jan 26 onwards, customers can redeem exclusive items at the Customer Service Counter on the same day.
They can also participate in mall’s 10th anniversary lucky draw by spending RM300 in a single receipt mall-wide and registering at the Customer Service Counter. The campaign runs till this Feb 18, with the finale on Feb 25. There are 50 prizes worth over RM280,000 to be won.
For more information on events and activities, stop by tHe Spring’s customer service, call 082-238222 or visit www.thespring.com.my.
Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister