Singapore master plan to upgrade tourism facilities in Sikkim

GANGTOK: Singapore-based Master Consult Services Pte Ltd (MCSPL) is charting out a long-term master plan to upgrade tourism facilities in Sikkim.
The company is aiming at developing a sustainable roadmap that will uphold the culture and spiritualism of the hill state.
MCSPL will arrange various workshops to train people and develop connectivity through proper roads and enhanced helicopter services.
According to MCSPL managing director Christopher Khoo, the plan will be a 20-year long initiative.

"It will upgrade facilities, including hotel services and building up of proper infrastructure, in 11 towns," he said.

In 1997, Sikkim had initiated a 15-year master plan prepared by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). TCS had estimated domestic tourist flow to touch at 3.5 lakh by 2012.
The number of foreign tourists, as estimated by TCS, stood at 35000.
But till early 2011, tourist flow surpassed all estimates with 8 lakh domestic tourists visiting the state.

In a programme to release the new master plan, Khoo and state tourism secretary Nim Yethenpa handed over a copy of the plan to the Sikkim chief minister.
While speaking at the conference, Khoo said special emphasis will be laid on tourism marketing, environment development, trekking, agri tourism and maintenance of the tourist sites

‘Cool’ Sikkim touches foreigners - Singapore team to build library in rural school

Gangtok, May 4: Thirty-two students from a school in Singapore are currently visiting Gangtok, interacting with the students of a government school here for whom they will help set up a library.

The students from Fairfield Methodist School (secondary), Singapore, have also brought two-three storybooks each for the library that will be built at Panthang Government Junior High School, 12km from here.

Three teachers are escorting the foreign students who are here for a week-long international exposure trip. The annual trip is a part of the curriculum for the secondary students.

“The trip has been excellent with nice cool weather and the natural beauty of Sikkim which we can’t find in Singapore. Most of us have developed friendship with the students here and all of us are enjoying our stay here,” said Julian Tan, a 15-year-old student.

Today the students of both the schools played a football match on the Pangthang School playground.

The foreign students had arrived here on Sunday and had gone for a daylong trek in a nearby forest with their Sikkimese friends.

The batch is busy learning the Nepali language, playing and sharing their experiences with the 107 students of the government school that teaches students up to Class VIII.

“I can’t say that I know each one of them but at least I can say that I can speak to them openly without feeling awkward. Back there in Singapore there is too much stress among the students but here the students are relaxed and humble. I believe Singapore people have to learn to be humble from them,” said Tan.

The funds, given by the Singapore government and the parents of the school students, are being used to make bookshelves for the library in Panthang school.

“Our students are interacting well with the children. They have painted the walls of the school building and are helping the carpenters to build the bookshelves. It has been a pleasant experience so far and I am delighted to see our students interacting well with the students here,” said Jean Ho, one of the teachers who is escorting the foreign students.

The teacher added that such trips help to understand the cultures of different places. “We want our students to experience different cultures and share the Singapore culture with students from other nations. They also do services in whichever schools they go. Such trips promote understanding of different cultures and develop friendship with students from other nations,” Ho said.

A batch of students from the same school had also visited Panthang School last year. The group had helped to set up a dining hall in the building.

“Last year the students were a bit shy but this time they are more open and interacting well with our students,” said Ho.

The headmistress of Panthang School, Denkala Thendup, said: “They want their students to have an experience of a village-level school and they have also come here to make friends. As the students from Singapore school had also visited this school last year our students have become more interactive and they are easily mingling with them. Such bonding has also developed confidence among our students and their shyness has gone,” she said

Tshering Dorjee Lachungpa, the owner of Khangri Tours and Travels that has co-ordinated the trip along with Singapore-based Divine International Explore and Treks Agency, said students from Singapore had visited Sikkim earlier as well.

He said they mostly went Yuksom in West Sikkim. But for the past three years the students are coming to schools in and around Gangtok.

“We have been choosing Panthang School for the past two years considering the short period of the trips which are usually for 10 days including travelling. Panthang School is close to Gangtok but is located in a rural area with beautiful forests and quiet surroundings. Medical facilities and decent hotel accommodations are easily available in nearby Gangtok,” he said

The students will leave Gangtok on Saturday.

Singapore Tour Operators discuss strategies for Sikkim tourism promotion

GANGTOK, July 26: The three member team of Singapore Tour Operators on its final day of Sikkim visit met the members of Sikkim Association of Adventure Tour Operators (SAATO) in Gangtok on July 26 and discussed upon various aspects through which Sikkim tourism can be promoted in Singapore and vice versa.


The prime purpose of the visit by the Singapore team was to explore the potential of Sikkim in tourism and tourism potential areas and also to observe what Sikkim has to offer to the people of Singapore so that it can be marketed. This encounter of Singapore team and Sikkim tourism stakeholders will now bilaterally assist marketing of the tourism of both ends.
In the meeting with the SAATO members, SAATO Advisor PK Dong emphasizing on promotion of Sikkim tourism in Singapore informed that only 700 tourists from Singapore visit Sikkim annually. The total number of international tourists visiting India every year is 4 million while it is more than 10 million in case of Singapore.

One of the members of Singapore Tour Operators Teng Suet Heong Susan appreciating the hospitality of Sikkim said that Sikkim has many potential domains to offer to the people of Singapore as far as tourism is concerned like eco-tourism, homestays, pilgrimage tourism etc. However, she laid extra emphasis on promotion of tourism in Singapore saying only handful of Singapore people, who are inclined to pilgrimage tourism or Buddhism, know about Sikkim as it comes under the Buddhism circuit but generally the people of Singapore have not heard about Sikkim.

The Singapore team observed adventure and photography as marketing tools for Sikkim.

Sikkim DGP to attend Interpol meet in Singapore

Sikkim director general of police C M Ravindran will take part in a five-day
Interpol meeting scheduled to be held from October 11 in Singapore.

A total of 148 police officers from across the world have been invited to take part in the police officers meet in which issues being faced by the police in various countries are expected to be discussed, official sources said here today.

Besides Raut, two other police officers from India Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director, Ashwini Kumar and Madhya Pradesh director general of police (DGP) SK Raut have also been invited, they said.