The Malaysian United Tour Guides’ Association (MUTGA) was established in 2018 as a direct response to a safety crisis and subsequent financial compliance requirements within the Malaysian Tour Guide Community.
The Malaysia United Tourist Guides' Association (MUTGA) is a premier professional association dedicated to enhancing the standard, safety, and welfare of tourist guides across Malaysia.
Established in 2018, MUTGA serves as a unified platform for tourist guides to collaborate, share knowledge, and advocate for the profession's continuous improvement and recognition.
Serving Tourist Guides
To elevate the professional standard of tourist guiding in Malaysia through comprehensive training, continuous support, and robust advocacy for member welfare and recognition.
To be the leading voice and most respected association for tourist guides in Malaysia, recognized for our commitment to excellence, innovation, and the sustainable growth of the tourism industry.
From humble beginnings to becoming a leading association for tourist guides in Malaysia.
The movement began following a violent robbery at Poh Sang Teng Temple in Malacca, where Penang-based tour guide Zhu Wei sustained serious head injuries while protecting tourists.
Safety Awareness: The incident highlighted the vulnerability of guides, leading founder Lew Yoke Sim and co-founder Tan Chee Pin to propose to have a private reserve security team.
RELA Partnership: Mandarin-speaking tour guides collectively agreed to donate RM30 monthly to hire RELA (The People's Volunteer Corps) members to ensure the safety of themselves and their visitors.
As the security initiative grew, the informal collection of funds faced institutional hurdles:
Banking Compliance: The high volume of transactions in a co-founder’s personal account led to bank observation and a recommendation to formalize operations through a non-profit entity.
Failure of Existing Associations: Several attempts were made to integrate this security responsibility into established tour guide associations, but these efforts failed.
Official Registration: To maintain the security team and provide a legal framework for funds, MUTGA was officially formed in 2018.
Today, MUTGA continues to serve as a professional association for licensed guides, offering training camps and advocating for the welfare and security of the industry.
The association begins running new tour guide training courses, allowing experienced tour guides to share their tour experience.
COVID-19 The pandemic resulted in the association promptly waiving membership fees and easing the financial burden on members.
The association contacted the Vietnamese Embassy and sincerely requested the embassy to assign a teacher to teach members Vietnamese to improve their competitiveness.
The association has partnered with Perkeso to enable members to purchase insurance at an affordable price to protect their interests.
Launch of new website and online membership portal to better serve members.
Our organizational hierarchy and leadership team.
Front Row (left to right): ALFONSO KONG, KACAK LIM, TOMMY TAN, GRACCE THAM, LIM BAM SOON, LEW YOKE SIM (President), CHUA ENG HAN, BENNY TAN, STEVEN YAP, AJ MING
Back Row (left to right): ERIC LEE, BRYAN LIM, WONG LIT JER, JAMES CHEN, WILLIAM GOH, FANG KAH WAI, GAN KIAN LOON, SAMUEL
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