Discover Malaysia… Discover its people…

KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 -  8TV together with Esso and Mobil, and Tourism Malaysia proudly present 'Discover Smiles Zoom! Malaysia', a travel reality TV show with a difference!

Premiering on 29 July 2009 at 9.30 pm, the show will feature 48 participants who will embark on a treasure hunt and travel across Peninsular Malaysia.  Their mission? To discover what makes Malaysians smile. Viewers at home will be able to join the participants as they explore the rich culture and history of the different states.

8TV Chief Executive Officer, Encik Ahmad Izham Omar shares his thoughts on the new programme. “Discover Smiles Zoom! Malaysia is not just a reality show. Aside from the treasure hunting and challenges that the teams face each week, this show also touches on the core reason of the reality show and that is Malaysia and its people,” he said.

“We are very proud and glad to work together with Esso and Mobil and Tourism Malaysia on this project and we hope that our viewers will enjoy this show as it will definitely enlighten them on the uniqueness of Malaysia and its people,” added Izham.

"Esso and Mobil are pleased to be able to help fellow Malaysians discover more about our country while offering the convenience and benefits of our Smiles loyalty card.  While the programme is fun and exciting, more importantly, it gives the opportunity for participants to create more smiles by lending a hand to those who are in need.  This is very much in line with our commitment to invest in programmes that benefit local communities," said Esso Malaysia Berhad Director Puan Faridah Ali.

“Our partnership with 8TV and Esso and Mobil in producing the Discover Smiles Zoom! Malaysia programme is a great platform for us to reach out to many Malaysians out there with the message that Malaysia is an affordable, exciting and diverse destination for locals to explore and experience. It’s a timely effort to get Malaysians to be more aware and appreciative of our own touristic values, especially with the global economic downturn affecting many Malaysians and making them re-evaluate their priorities for travel. With this programme, we hope to get more Malaysians out and on the road, traveling around Malaysia and enjoying what our beautiful nation has to offer, and experience the food, culture, and landscapes that have captured the hearts of so many foreign travelers before,” said Tourism Malaysia.

Discover Smiles Zoom! Malaysia
After the initial round of audition sessions that were held on the 25th and 26th of April 2009 at Sri Pentas, 24 two-person teams will travel the country in search of the most exciting tourist spots, learn new things and meet new people.

Each week, the show will feature 2 teams who have to drive to a selected destination.  Along the way, they have to compete in challenges that will test their history, cultural and general knowledge as well as treasure hunting skills. Each challenge provided is also based on what makes people smile, from acts of kindness to entertaining strangers in order to make them smile.

Each team will be required to travel with Esso's and Mobil’s “Smiles” card which is preloaded with a certain amount of points to be redeemed for fuel, food and beverages.  The teams must carefully plan their usage of the points in order to complete their journey to various destinations in Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Perlis, Kedah, Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Perak, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

All are winners
Each group winner will bring home RM3,000 cash, RM500 worth of “Smiles” points and 2 bottles of 4-litre Mobil 1 lubricant. The runner-up will receive RM1,000 cash, RM300 worth of “Smiles” points and 2 bottles of 4-litre Super 2000 lubricant.

On top of that, Smiles points which are earned by each team when they complete challenges during the race will be donated to a chosen charity organization in every episode.

So, do not miss out on this exciting new travel reality show and together let’s discover Malaysia and its people in DiscoverSmiles Zoom! Malaysia starting 29 July 2009 at 9.30pm only on 8TV!

About ExxonMobil

The ExxonMobil Subsidiaries in Malaysia are a group of companies, which have business activities ranging from upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to the refining and marketing of petroleum products. In the upstream, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc. produces about a quarter of the nation's crude oil and supplies about half of Peninsular Malaysia's natural gas needs.  In the downstream, three ExxonMobil subsidiaries, Esso Malaysia Berhad, ExxonMobil Malaysia Sdn Bhd and ExxonMobil Borneo Sdn Bhd operate a network of 530 service stations throughout Malaysia.  Esso Malaysia Berhad also operates an 88,000 barrel a day refinery in Port Dickson that refines crude oil and produces a variety of products, including petrol, diesel, jet fuel, cooking gas and chemical feedstocks. To learn more, visit www.exxonmobil.com.my

About Tourism Malaysia

Tourism Malaysia is an agency under the purview of the Ministry of Tourism, charged with the responsibility of promoting Malaysia as a world-class tourist destination for business and leisure travels.   Its ultimate goal is to increase the number of foreign tourists to Malaysia, extend the average length of their stay and to increase Malaysia’s tourism revenue.

About 8TV

8TV is an interactive platform for audiences united by a common desire for authenticity and self-expression. It is a hot-bed of creativity featuring original, local and international entertainment wrapped in interactivity. 8TV began operations on January 8th 2004 and transmits free to the entire West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia and Kuantan on the UHF band. 8TV also transmits nationwide via Astro Channel 708. 8TV has chalked up impressive achievements within only its first year of operations, successfully producing the highly-rated Malaysian Idol™ series and also winning several Asian-level industry awards for creative excellence.