Trip to Former Leper Colony Wins Tourism Writing Award

BANGKOK, 14 July 2010 – A boat trip to an island that was once the world’s largest leper colony has won top prize for travel writing in the Southeast Asia Awards. The story, which won the Editors’ Choice Award for June, is hosted on www.SoutheastAsia.org, the official B2C portal of the ASEAN Tourism Association.

The June winners include a photograph of a timeless bullock caravan in Bagan, Myanmar, an image of children diving into transparent sea water in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia, and an ebullient account of a hastily arranged family trip to a water park in Malaysia.

Culion, The Triumphant Island by Katherine Jack relates how in 1906 the first batch of exiled lepers arrived on Culion island in the Palawan archipelago of the Philippines. By 1931 there were 16,000 lepers living in Culion, which became the global centre for doctors studying the disease. The island was so isolated the lepers had their own currency. A cure for leprosy was developed in the 1980s. In the 1990s, the island’s inhabitants were given political rights to vote and Culion became a normal administrative part of the Philippines.

Bagan, Archaelogical Treasure of Myanmar by Ko Bo Bo Zaw won the Editors’ Choice Photography Award for June.

In the People’s Choice Photography Award, decided by popular online voting, One…Two…Three…Jump by Teoh Siang Hooi took first prize. The picture, shot with a fisheye lens, shows carefree children plunging from a rickety pier into pristine tropical waters in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia

The People’s Choice Award for Writing went to We Had a Splashing Good Time… by Lew Bee Choo, a breezy account of a spontaneous family trip to Sunway Lagoon Water Park near Petaling Jaya in Malaysia.

The People’s Choice Awards are voted on by visitors to www.SoutheastAsia.org. Editor’s Choice Awards are chosen by a panel of judges that includes content managers of the website. All the photographers and writers who won in June will receive US$750.

Until 31 July 2010, visitors to the site can cast their vote to help select the Grand Prize winners from among the twelve winning pictures and stories. In the Grand Prize, winners in the Editors’ Choice categories of photography and travel writing will each win US$1,750. Winners in the People’s Choice category will each win US$1,250.

To attract People’s Choice votes for their pictures and stories, contenders are encouraged to promote their entries to friends via Facebook and on their blogs using downloadable participation badges linking back to SoutheastAsia.org.

Find out more about Southeast Asia: feel the warmth on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/wwwSoutheastAsiaorg/112977028713664

Follow the campaign on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/WarmthofSEAsia @WarmthofSEAsia

Notes for Editors:

A high resolution image of “Bagan, Archaeological Treasure of Myanmar” can be downloaded here: http://www.southeastasia.org/images/contestphotos/2102464tlast_adapated_Bagan_for_competition_4.jpg

A high resolution image of “One…Two…Three…Jump” is available here http://www.southeastasia.org/images/contestphotos/OneTwoThreeJump.jpg

Travel writers and photographers can find out more about the awards at http://www.SoutheastAsia.org/index.php/seaawards/about/

Frequently asked questions are available here: http://www.SoutheastAsia.org/index.php/seaawards/faq/

Travel writers and photographers can find out more about the awards at http://www.SoutheastAsia.org/index.php/seaawards/about/

Frequently asked questions are available here: http://www.SoutheastAsia.org/index.php/seaawards/faq/

Images of campaign logos and Southeast Asian destinations can be downloaded here.

About the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA)
The ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) was formed on 27th March 1971. ASEANTA is a non-profit tourism association comprising both public and private tourism sector organizations from ASEAN. ASEANTA has grown to become a tourism association of influence within the ASEAN tourism landscape, playing an integral role in shaping tourism development growth and policies in the ASEAN region. Further information and ASEANTA mission statement.

About ASEAN Competitiveness Enhancement (ACE)
SoutheastAsia.org and the Southeast Asia: feel the warmth campaign are an initiative of the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA), a not-for-profit organization, whose membership comprises both public- and private-sector tourism stakeholders from throughout Southeast Asia. The campaign was created and developed by USAID’s ASEAN Competitiveness Enhancement (ACE) Project in close collaboration with ASEANTA. Managed by Nathan Associates under contract, the ACE Project was developed and is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Regional Development Mission Asia (RDMA) to help ASEAN’s travel & tourism industry realize the benefits of greater regional integration. www.ace-advance.com

Further information
Ikhwan Al-Rashid Abdul Rahman
ASEANTA Marketing Director
Tel: (60) 32692 6850
Fax: (60) 32694 2179
Email: ikhwan@aseanta.org / ikhwanalrashid@yahoo.com

Press queries
Ken Scott
ScottAsia Communications
Tel: (66) 81 931 2753
E-mail: ken@scottasia.net