Malaysia Pavilion concluded its monthly kite flying event for the public at Expo 2020 Dubai by collaborating with Merry Project to celebrate the global event while looking forward to Expo 2025 Osaka.
During the final monthly event, hundreds of visitors got to take home the butterfly-shaped kites and “smiling kites” as a souvenir of the joyous occasion. The MyButterfly kite flying event at the Al Forsan park has been a hugely popular event especially among families with many remarking that they were overjoyed to try their hands at flying kites for the first time.
“I’m so happy my children and I were able to fly kites today, something we have never done before. Thank you to Malaysia Pavilion for doing this,” said the mother of two toddlers who only wanted to be known as Emily.
The event was held to spread awareness of the Pavilion’s #MyButterflyEffect campaign that aims to inspire sustainable actions amongst the people through Malaysia’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai. Malaysia’s theme at the expo is “Energising Sustainability” where its pavilion is a net zero carbon installation. It also promoted a traditional pastime in Malaysia.
This time around, the event also looked ahead to Expo 2025 Osaka in Japan. Connecting the two Expos’ themes, “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” and “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” the Malaysia Pavilion collaborated with social project, Merry Project, to create smiles and celebrate the next world expo. The Merry Project team from Japan gave visitors kites and umbrellas with the faces of smiling children and some even sporting the Expo 2025 Osaka logo.
Datuk Zainal Abidin Abu Hassan, Commissioner-General of Malaysia at Expo 2020 Dubai
said: “The Merry Project and Malaysia Pavilion My Butterfly Kite Flying shared the same sentiment, simply because of what Merry Project represent, the simplest thing such as the innocence of a child’s smile can brighten and make the world a better place.
“This resonates well with our #MyButterfly Effect social campaign which is based on the premise that one small act can create a ripple effect elsewhere and that is what we wish to create at Expo 2020 – to cause a big impact on people by inspiring them to do good to the people, empowering sustainable growth that put and care for environmental issues at its core.”
The original butterfly effect concept comes from the chaos theory made popular by mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz. According to the theory a small action in one place can create a bigger impact elsewhere and Malaysia, through its participation in Expo 2020 Dubai, aims to set an example to promote and inspire sustainable actions.
ABOUT MALAYSIA PAVILION AT EXPO 2020 Dubai
Malaysia’s self-built 1,234.05 sq meter pavilion is the first net zero carbon pavilion at the EXPO. The Pavilion features a rainforest canopy inspired by the majestic tropical rainforest of Malaysia, blending cultural elements with nature and functionality into a futuristic building.
The Pavilion carries the theme “Energising Sustainability” to represent the nation’s commitment and approach to sustainable development. It is segmented into four sub-themes; “Energising Today”, “Energising Tomorrow”, “Energising Harmony” and “Energising Business”. Malaysia’s activities during the EXPO will include permanent 3D displays, daily cultural performances, craft demonstrations, café operations as well as 26 weekly thematic trade and business programmes.
The business weeks will involve a large contingent of 21 ministries, 70 departments and agencies and five state governments initiating and supporting the programmes. They will also bring weekly business delegations from the industry that will participate in pocket talks, product launches, business matching sessions and signing of MoUs. Malaysia Pavilion will also host and participate in summits and forums throughout Expo.
The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation is the lead ministry for Malaysia’s participation at the mega event. Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) is the implementing agency
