So there I was at KidZania Kuala Lumpur yesterday morning to witness the KidZania CongreZZ Inauguration, where 20 children were given the 'rights' to govern the city. Interesting, and an absolutely bright idea if you asked me, with more power given to the 20 kids newly sworn into office, so that they can feedback, and give further improvements to the already cool award-winning educational and entertainment theme park.
CongreZZ as I was told during the inauguration, is the legislative governmental body of KidZania, overseen by 20 children who are its elected representatives and naturalised citizens. Voted into office, KidZania CongreZZ Kids meet quarterly at the city level to share ideas and voice opinions in order to keep KidZania's spirit alive, current and socially relevant.
The purpose and intent of the CongreZZ meetings are to benefit the KidZanian community by discussing topics such as media, entertainment, education, literature, as well as sharing the main concerns of tourists and citizens of KidZania.
CongreZZ Kids are required to serve KidZania for a period of one year, just like the real congress, in which a new election campaign will take place at the end of each term. Each of the candidates went through a selection process which includes resume submission, video submission and a final face-to-face interview.
The inaugural KidZania CongreZZ campaign at KidZania Kuala Lumpur attracted over 200 resumes who were then shortlisted into video submission for the final judging round. Elected CongreZZ Kids were judged based on their exemplary aptitude in areas of education, communication skills, sociability, creativity, respectfulness, articulation as well as overall personality attributes.
The first of 20 chosen CongreZZ kids were officially sworn in that morning, where they solemnly pledged to preserve the rights of KidZania, keeping its spirit alive and to get ready for a better world. Watching some of the kids' video submission during the event, I was mighty impressed with their talents, and how they could perfectly articulate their thoughts through their speech and gestures.
Each of the new CongreZZ kids were given a signed certificate.
Benefits of being a KidZania CongreZZ Kid includes participation and decision-making on activity enhancement at KidZania Kuala Lumpur, an exclusive CongreZZ Kids Office Package that consists of a back pack, t-shirt, badge and stationary, a plague in recognition of service and complimentary monthly admission into KidZania Kuala Lumpur for the CongreZZ Kid and four friends. Pretty cool stuff if you asked me.
"KidZania Kuala Lumpur is proud of this milestone as we are truly living up to our spirit of educating, inspiring, and empowering children as they discover life in this city that is built just for them," said Y.M Tunku Dato' Ahmad Burhanuddin.
The name "CongreZZ" spelled with two 'Z's at the end was chosen because at its very core, the word signifies the action of coming together. In choosing to replace the letter 's' with the letter 'z', the kids were alerting KidZania's constituency that this would not be their parent's or an adult's version of a congress, but rather, it would embrace the kids' own point of view and express the creativity, passion and resolve that embodies everything their vision stands for.
As for me, I'm looking forward to the day baby Martin is old enough to truly enjoy KidZania Kuala Lumpur. I might even submit his resume in to be part of the CongreZZ Kids 2021. Until then, here's a big congratulations to the 20 bright kids of KidZania Malaysia, and may the year ahead be filled with more fun and fruitful activities!
Nice!!! City kids are so privileged!
wow nice haven't got here before, will need save money for it.
Wah .... really like real. My kid will definitely pester me to go there again !
Absolutely beautiful venue!! The environment was unbelievable. The use of wood throughout the place adds a very warm and inviting feel to venue. I was simply amazed at the architecture!