
A computer-designed photo of the Wellywood sign on the Miramar hill. Photo credit: The Dominion Post, New Zealand, dated May 27, 2011.
In The Sun today, there is this grotesque idea being floated about by a New Zealand company that it intends to erect a massive “Wellywood” sign imitating the world-famous Hollywood original. Wellington International Airports Ltd possessed this absurd ambition to build this 30m-by-8m signage on a hillside overlooking the airport’s main runway, ostensibly to promote the home of Peter Jackson and his nearby studio which made the Oscar-winning trilogy The Lord of the Rings. As the said company’s chief executive said, “Wellington needs to get onto everyone’s bucket list and a Wellywood sign is a clear message that Wellington is a must-see destination with a really important film industry”.
This monstrosity of an idea is something that one would expect Malaysian companies to come up with – since we Malaysians are known to be unoriginal. In New Zealand, this idea has divided the country’s capital – critics are dubbing it “tacky, crass, derivative and unworthy of what is supposed to be a creative city”. Opponents have threatened a civil disobedience campaign to compel the local airport company to back down. More than 14,000 people have already signed a Facebook page opposing the sign last weekend, and 110 opponents said they would even join a protest to “seriously disrupt the airport’s operations” by driving slowly around the terminal’s drop-off area during Monday evening’s peak hour (p 31). In fact, there was already a drive-by protest at the airport earlier this week involving 80-100 vehicles which brought traffic to a standstill.
Disdain for the controversial sign has come from the highest level, with Prime Minister John Key reportedly saying he did not like it.
In fact, this wasn’t the first time the company came up with this goofy idea. More than a year ago, it tried to do the same thing but abandoned it after a storm of protest from locals and word that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce that controls the original sign in California, USA was consulting lawyers about possible infringement of copyright. Hello, the idea is already dead – why is the company pursuing it again? I suppose, some people just don’t give up!
Yesterday evening was a rush – from Sunway to Glenmarie to Cheras – but it was nice to be able to still be at UCSI to help out a potential Toastmasters club that is in the formative stages of being set up. I was the Toastmaster-of-the-Evening. Other Toastmasters who lent a helping hand included Geoff Andrew, Francis Ng, Hakim Hamzah, Lee Sai Keong, Chris Chen and Victor Lee.