Horsing around at summit venue
MALAYSIA may be suffering economically due to the regional turmoil, but delegates to the Group of 15 summit opening tomorrow can expect a pain-free stay in the new extravagantly appointed Palace of the Golden Horses hotel - unless they have equine phobias.
Three months ago foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met in a sumptuous hotel set in a theme park called Sunway City, built by a Chinese tycoon on the site of a former tin mine on the northern rim of Kuala Lumpur.
The venue for representatives of the Group of 15 countries is a hotel set in a theme park built by another Chinese tycoon on the site of another former tin mine south of the capital.
Ostentation-wise both hotels are over the top, but the Palace of the Golden Horses, which cost about M$250 million (HK$555 million), is even grander and gaudier than the Sunway Resort Hotel, with cavernous, echoing corridors and a vast lobby and lounge area where a bicycle would come in handy.
Horses, or their equipage, meet the eye at every turn. Real ones are next door at the Selangor Turf Club and five charging bronze stallions drawing a chariot driven by Normala, a mythical Malay heroine, greet guests at the hotel entrance.
A sculpture of rearing horses stands in the centre of the Grand Salon, while more horses are underfoot, carved into the marble floor, and overhead, galloping around the ceiling dome, in the lobby.
The floors of the corridors are inlaid with horseshoes, while the equine theme extends across cutlery, carpets, glass doors and windows.
Lee Kim Yew, managing director of the Country Heights group, which developed the hotel, said he chose the theme because horses were 'man's best friend'.
The prospect of 16 heads of government - the Group of 15 and new member-to-be Kenya - vying for the best suites in the hotel has eased with the news that so far only Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Peru, Zimbabwe and Malaysia have confirmed that they will be represented by their leaders.
Argentina, Brazil, Jamaica, Mexico and Chile are sending second-ranking officials, while Nigeria, India, Senegal, Venezuela and even Kenya have yet to nominate a delegate.
