KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry is looking at what it calls a “win-win situation” in allowing South Korean tourist guides into the state. In a dialogue session on Tuesday, the minister, Masidi Manjun, said the ministry would hold discussions with agencies such as the Malaysian Association of Tours and Travel Agents (Matta), Sabah Tourist Guides Association (STGA) and officers of the federal tourism ministry on the matter. Earlier in the dialogue session, STGA chairman Daniel Doughty had raised the issue of South Korean tourist guides, seeking the state ministry's clarification on its effect on the income of local tourist guides. Masidi urged all parties involved to look at the issue from various perspectives, and not solely from the welfare of tourist guides, including attracting more tourists to the state. He said foreigners were allowed to work as tourist guides if they held valid work permit, apart from being fluent in their mother tongue and English, as well as possessing indepth knowledge of Sabah's various cultures.
