MALAYSIANS have panned the new Visit Malaysia Year 2020 (VMY2020) logo as mediocre and in poor taste.

The logo was launched by Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz at the Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) 2018 in Chiang Mai, Thailand yesterday.

The emblem features a cartoon of an orang utan in sunglasses hugging a proboscis monkey, a silhouette of the Petronas Twin Towers and a turtle on a beach also wearing sunglasses.

The caption that accompanies the logo is “Travel. Enjoy. Respect”, which Nazri was reported saying as being in line with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)‘s aspirations.

Social media users however have slammed the logo as amateurish and poorly designed to be an international symbol.

One Arashad (@itsmymn) chided Nazri for picking a bad designer when there were many talented Malaysian designers here.

“I’m sick and tired of this humiliation. How can you be a minister, when you can’t realize how awful & humiliating this logo is?

“You know what this says to the world for 2020? Malaysians can’t design. I weep for all our great graphic designers,” he posted on Twitter today.

Another Twitter user Charis loke (@charisloke) pointed out that there was a confusion on who the orang utan was purportedly hugging in the graphic.

“I still can’t figure out if the orang utan is hugging an orang utan or a person”.

A graphic designer only known as Yoy (@ShrlSbrdn) tweeted that it was humiliating for Malaysia to pick such a logo when there is talent out there.

“This is the Visit Malaysia 2020 logo friends. It is a humiliation when we as graphic designers see the work that is produced. Pity us when we spent thousands studying graphic design but logos like this are produced.”

On Facebook, one Andrew Lee suggested that the logo was an insult to the former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad because he envisioned Wawasan 2020.

“Is it a slap to the face of a leader who envisioned the 2020 vision or a leader who can’t deliver it and have this to show?”.

Wiyaz Mihaz posted on Facebook that the new logo was badly designed compared to previous Visit Malaysia logos.

“The VMMY2020 is among the worst logos in history I have ever seen. Sorry to say, compared to the logos that are beautiful below,” he said posting previous logos on his page.

Facebook user Hafiz Bo not only had a problem with the logo, but also the tagline itself. He feels that it the usage of the word “respect” was rude to draw in tourists.

“Is this how we want to convince tourists to come to our country? Is it really necessary to use the tagline ‘respect’. It is as though a gangster issues a warning to those who enter his area,” he posted.

Nazri announced yesterday that VMY2020 forecasts 36 million tourist visits and has received Putrajaya’s backing when Prime Minister Najib Razak tabled Budget 2018.

The minister was quoted as saying that the logo drew inspiration from flora and fauna found in Malaysia.

He did not say how the logo was picked or who designed it. – January 27, 2018.