The Tourism Malaysia Garden has successfully bagged the Show Garden Gold Award at the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. It is Tourism Malaysia’s second consecutive win at this floral exhibition, billed as one of the biggest and most prestigious in the world.

Its participation at this event, from 24 to 28 May, is a chance to showcase the country’s unique species of flowers and plants, as well as to create awareness of Malaysia as a Parks and Gardens destination.
This year, the Tourism Malaysia Garden is once again designed by the award-winning duo who were at the helm of last year’s flower show success – James Wong, who is of Malaysian descent, and David Cubero. Whilst last year’s garden was modeled around a traditional ‘Kampung’ (Malay village), this year’s design takes inspiration from the winding jungle streams and rich traditional architecture of the Malaysian Archipelago.

Designer, James Wong commented:
“This year’s design is a modernist re-envisioning of the “courtyard pool”, a traditional Asian architectural design feature which uses sheets of water and lush planting to act as a natural air-conditioning system. This highly functional system is designed not only for its beauty, but also acts to shade and cool the interior of a modernist residence in the heart of downtown Kuala Lumpur: the garden reflects this juxtaposition of beauty and design ingenuity. The layout aims to capture the sinuous movement and feeling of a brown limestone river bed, carved out by a slowly moving stream, leaving pebbled deposits along the naturally planted terraces.”

The garden is accessed through a series of floating entrance frames that lead from a stilted villa to a sunken seating pavilion, surrounded by a pool studded with drifts of fragrant tropical water lilies. Around the garden is a brown limestone wall densely planted with curtains of trailing jungle vines, providing a dramatic contrast to the foreground of floating terraces of tropical plants, punctuated by streams of falling water.

The opening ceremony was officiated by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England who is the Royal Patron of the Royal Horticultural Society. At the ceremony held on the afternoon of 23 May 2011, Her Majesty The Queen visited the exhibition ground including the Malaysia Garden.

Among the dignitaries to receive Her Majesty at the Tourism Malaysia Garden were YB Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen, Minister of Tourism Malaysia, accompanied by YBhg Dato’ Hj. Azizan Noordin, Acting Director General of Tourism Malaysia and YBhg Professor Dato’ Dr. Jimmy Choo, Malaysia’s Tourism Ambassador.

Other personalities and celebrities who visited the Tourism Malaysia Garden, were HRH Prince Albert of Monaco, the British Royal Family including The Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles and HRH Prince Andrew.

Through its participation at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Tourism Malaysia aims to promote Malaysia as a destination that offers beautiful sights and natural beauty through its parks and gardens, particularly to nature enthusiasts and horticulturists. The Ministry of Tourism and Tourism Malaysia have identified 22 parks and gardens throughout the country to be promoted to visitors.

This year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show has attracted over 600 participating exhibitors from around the globe showcasing 17 show gardens, 100 growers and nurseries, and 250 trade stands.

Organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) of the United Kingdom, the Chelsea Flower Show showcases gardens, landscape, gardening products and accessories targeted at flower and garden enthusiasts from around the world.

For further information on the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, please go to:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/chelsea/index.asp  

Further details on the garden’s designers can be found at: www.amphibiandesigns.com