In 2017, history was made when Ipoh welcomed its first-ever theme park in Perak and the first animation theme park in Asia via Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS).
The RM520 million theme park instantly became a hot attraction as it featured a number of international titles from DreamWorks Animation such as ‘The Smurfs’.
However, the number of visitors has reduced drastically over the years. At one point, it seemed like a ghost town, and now, the theme park has taken a turn for the worse.
Bernama reported that MAPS has closed down indefinitely effective today (28 January).
The closure notice was issued by the Receiver and Manager of Animation Theme Park Sdn Bhd (ATP) from Messrs Ernst & Young.
Apparently, Perak MB revealed that the closure was partly due to the unpaid electricity bills by the previous administration.
Here’s how Malaysians reacted to the closure:
Semoga semua ex-pekerja MAPS dipermudahkan urusan untuk mencari pekerjaan baru. My cousin is among those employees who are affected with the condition.
— Soljer Nashen ? (@EqalAzlan) January 27, 2020
Maps dekat ipoh tu dah tutup ke? Adik ipar aku baru citer haritu dia pergi sana. Tapi orang tak ramai la dia cakap. Mainan pun macam dah lama tak servis, takde orang main.
— maia (@mallyyaa) January 27, 2020
MAPS tutup?
— Its Okina Fitto (@OkinaFitto) January 27, 2020
.... Hmmm sebagai anak jati Perak, banyak benda yang teman nampak, dan sad to say, it happens.
Sayang... MAPS ni ade potensi yang sgt sgy besar, tapi for me, ada few aspek yang kena ambil kira jugak
Maps Perak tu sebenarnya memang patut tutup pun. Bukan nya best pun.
— Pedoq, what is this behavior? (@pedoqpop) January 28, 2020
Did you manage to visit MAPS when it was still in operation?
Let’s hope that the theme park will get a revamp and turn itself around soon.