PROFILE
ABOUT SIM CHOO KHENG
What are your hobbies? The only real hobby I have is cooking – I fi nd it relaxing. My favourite moment of the week is getting up early on Sunday morning to visit the local market to prepare a family meal. The smell of vegetables, spices, fi sh and meat is real and life-giving and gives me peace.
What’s your favourite food? Asian food. I love noodles and could eat them for all three meals if necessary. It’s rare for me not to noodle at least once a day when I’m in Asia. When trav- elling, pasta is sometimes the stand-in.
What’s your favourite fi lm? First Blood (Rambo I). It’s a simple story about one man being pushed too far. It’s a long road, when you’re on your own, but he somehow wins through – this is inspirational to me. I’ve never liked complicated movies with hundreds of twists. To me, movies should enter- tain, not confuse.
Kids can pan for gold in the stream, or climb trees at the park’s most popular attraction
ones, Adventureplay includes a Tot’s Trail, where young children can practice climbing, crawling and balancing skills. Guests can also pan for gold in the stream, in what Sim calls a cultural nod to Malaysia’s mining history. So far, Sim says Go Ape is one of the most popular attractions with guests – a tree-climb- ing challenge for all ages that rewards climbers with “stunning” views at the top. “Parents are always shocked that their kids can climb trees,” Sim says. “They’ve not seen them do it before or, more likely, they’ve not let them do it.” In early 2013, work will begin on the
second phase of the development of Escape – Waterplay. Built on 11 acres of land, it will feature play-based water attractions and rides, based on the activ- ities Sim used to play as a child in the
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What drives you? Being different. I grew up surrounded by traditionally minded people who wanted to cut me down to size but I wasn’t hav- ing that! Apart from living in a house (as opposed to a cave) and being married with kids, I don’t usually conform to the norms. Perhaps my real driver is my ethos of being someone who’s prepared to leave something good behind to try and discover something new.
river. This phase will open in 2014, after which the plan is to add more attractions to the 18-acres of yet-to-be-developed land in Adventureplay, including a chair lift, luge and zip lines, utilising the 60m (197ft) difference in height between the top and the bottom levels of the park. Post 2014, Sim Leisure will develop
a TreeTop Hotel plus cabins and tents on the property as part of phase three, which will be the fi nal zone to open in 2017. As a branding exercise – and also one suspects, to indulge Sim’s Peter Pan-esque love of all things nostalgic – a comic book is also in development for sale in the park, where the bad guys are based on the greedy big boys in the vil- lage that used to pinch his toys as a kid.” Or corrupt cronies who harm the envi- ronment in the name of profi t,” he says.
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How would you describe yourself? I’m a fully paid-up workaholic. The only time I do nothing is when I sleep. I’m funny when in the right company; I have a good sense of humour, with a dose of sarcasm – rather rare for an Asian! I’m also known for my decently dirty jokes. I can’t live without music – I think
the world dies when music stops. I also think all the best songs were all written in the 1980s. So it’s quite pointless to listen to anything written after that.
How would others describe you? People who don’t know me usually read me wrong because of how I look. I’ve worn my hair spiky since the 1980s.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? From my mother a long time ago. She would nag me with the phrase: “People don’t die from hard work.” I suppose I was converted in my young days.
Along with wellness and play, sustain-
ability is a central theme in all three phases of the park. Adventureplay already practices water harvesting and pipe-free irrigation, as will phase two and three. With an abundance of rain in Malaysia, Sim says it’s easy to conserve water, which is recycled wherever it can be, including in the park’s toilet facilities. The buildings in the park have grass
roofs, to provoke conversation among the children, in what Sim describes as his attempt to “popularise being eco”. Adventureplay also has a special learn- ing house where children can fi nd out about nature and the environment. For those not interested in visiting this, Sim says he’s enjoyed having a “playful dig” in signage throughout the park, which gently mocks computer and tv addicts.
AM 1 2013 ©cybertrek 2013
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