from the Malaysia Star:
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/12/25/central/5244680&sec=central
THE staff of Pearl International Hotel at 5th Mile Jalan Klang Lama have every
reason to be proud of the hotel’s 3.5m-high Christmas tree. They all had a hand
in, not just decorating the tree, but also in making the Christmas tinsel and
shiny baubles.
Long before Christmas they had got busy tearing the pages of expired magazines
and salvaging mineral water bottles from guest rooms to make the decorations.
“The rule of thumb for this year’s Christmas decorations is to reduce, reuse
and recycle” said Karen Tan, 32, of Pearl International.
Hotel’s pride and joy: The 3.7m high Christmas tree made up of no less than
3,000 mineral bottles lighted up with fairy lights.
According to Tan, the idea had been mooted by Datin Chew Chia Chiann, 42, the
vice-president of business development and finance, in February this year.
Chew, who became a devout Buddhist after the difficult birth of her youngest
child two years ago, was inspired to take on the recycled look for this year’s
Christmas theme upon receiving a message of enlightenment from her Buddhist
master. This emboldened Chew to make the decision to adopt an environmental
theme for the lobby.
“In life, we must live to love and that means looking into one’s environment,
heritage, medical care and education. In my own small way, I choose to express
it by focusing on the environment,” says Chew.
The result of Chew’s vision is a 3.5m-high snowman made entirely of mineral
plastic bottles and a 2.13m-long chandelier made from plastic cups and
newspaper strips. Also taking pride of place in the lobby is a 3.7m-high
Christmas tree made up of no less than 3,000 mineral bottles with fairy lights.
The resident artist has also decided to keep a 3.5m-long peacock which is 95%
made up of outdated Travelrama magazine pages from Deepavali.
Tan said the decorations were a collective effort of the hotel’s different
departments. After a brainstorming session with the art department which came
up with the final concept three months ago, the housekeeping department, for
example, were tasked with the collection of recyclable items from the guest
rooms. The engineering department were tasked with the building of the base
structures which made use of mesh wire for fencing and leftover plywood.
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