Iskarnival at Puteri Harbour

More than 100,000 visitors thronged Iskarnival 2015 in the 2-day community carnival at Puteri Harbour in Iskandar Puteri (formerly known as Nusajaya).

The Foodbox food bazaar was by far the most popular
section of Iskarnival 2015, held at Puteri Harbour

Organised for the fourth consecutive year, Iskarnival 2015 was held at a new venue in Puteri Harbour with seven components, namely the Exposium for properties, career and job opportunities, the Playground for kids and extreme sports enthusiasts, the Space for fun and traditional games, Foodbox food bazaar, Iskarnival bazaar, the Gego 2015 concert and Rimba-Rimba, the Green-living corner.

Visitors started arriving at the carnival from 10am on Dec 5 to enjoy and experience a programme of exciting activities.

Representatives of the carnival organisers from Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Iskandar Investment Bhd (IIB) and UEM Sunrise Bhd, welcomed and escorted guest-of-honour, Johor State Assembly Speaker, Tan Sri Haji Mohamad Haji Aziz, to the observation deck for a bird’s eye view of the sprawling carnival grounds.

The Johor Green team at the Rimba-Rimba,
Green-living corner of Iskarnival 2015

With social inclusiveness, the underlying objective of Iskarnival, close to 200 notable local vendors participated in the carnival on a complimentary basis.

Foodbox, which featured over 30 food vendors, was by far the most popular section in the carnival where visitors enjoyed their meals at tables set out al-fresco style.

Football fans were thrilled to see JDT players like Safiq Rahim, Fazly Mazlan, Amirul Hadi, Farizal Marlias and Safee Sali, at the carnival and had a meet-the-fans session at the Exposium.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) moored their vessel, KM Sibuan, in Puteri Harbour and invited boys and girls on board for a tour of the patrol ship and to learn more about life on board.

Meanwhile the MMEA booth set up in the Exposium also attracted curious visitors who stopped to take a closer look at the display of firearms in the agency’s inventory.

Visitors looking at the display of firearms at the Malaysian
Maritime Enforcement Agency's booth in the Exposium

Under Iskarnival’s Outreach Programme, 60 special guests from rehabilitation centres, PDK Nusajaya and Kampung Tarom, were invited to enjoy games and various activities as well as a meal at the Foodbox food bazaar.

As a sign of respect at the passing of Almarhum Yang Amat Mulia Tunku Abdul Jalil Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, all forms of entertainment, concerts and competitions were called off from the evening of Dec 5.

When Nusajaya assemblyman, Dr Haji Zaini Abu Bakar, visited Iskarnival on Dec 6, he expressed his hope that this carnival would continue to attract budding entrepreneurs as it was an excellent platform to encourage small businesses.

A version of this was published in The Malaysian Insider on 9 Dec 2015