SE Asia's first Universal Studios

SE Asia's first Universal Studios opens in Singapore

Southeast Asia's first Universal Studios theme park, featuring rides and attractions from box-office hits such as "Shrek" and "Madagascar", opened to enthusiastic crowds in Singapore on Thursday.

Hundreds of visitors including foreign tourists lined up to be among the first into the 20-hectare (50-acre) park, part of the US$4.4-billion Resorts World Sentosa casino complex built by Malaysia's Genting Group.

The casino, Singapore's first, started operations last month as part of a drive to draw more visitors to the city-state, which relies on man-made attractions to entice tourists.

Singaporean newlyweds Raymond Ling and Liew See Eng took the day off to try the roller-coaster rides at the seaside amusement centre.

"The whole goal was to come here first and experience the most terrifying rides. We'll definitely be taking it as many times as we can," Ling told AFP after getting off a ride called "Battlestar Galactica Human".

"It was very scary! At the first drop, I felt like my heart was going to come out," Liew said after their front-seat experience.

The park has seven zones of movie-themed attractions, including an area devoted to Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" and a version of Hollywood's famous "Walk of Fame".

Nine-year-old Chai Jing Xuan, a Singaporean girl who was one of the first to try the "Shrek 4D Adventure" ride, gave it a thumbs-up. "The best part of the ride was seeing the donkey. He was very funny," she said.

Chinese tourist Huang Wenhui, 26, an engineer who was in Singapore for a one-day stopover, joined the early crowds. "I'm not a thrill-seeker, but I'm enjoying the whole experience very much," he said.

The park houses 24 rides and attractions in all, with 18 of them originally designed or adapted for Singapore.

The theme park is also promoting itself overseas, especially to neighbouring countries.

-News courtesy of Channel Newsasia-