Hotel swimming pools not suitable for lessons, says association

PETALING JAYA (Nov 22): The Malaysian Association of Hotels have said that it is not a good idea to have hotel pools used for swimming lessons, reported The Star today.

“Most, if not all, swimming pools in hotels are meant for leisure.

"Which means they are not built with the needed size, shape, depth and design for swimming lessons, especially not for groups of children,” the association’s CEO Yap Lip Seng told English daily today.

Yap also added that: “While there are hotels that are currently already providing their facilities for selected school activities on an ad hoc basis as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, most hotel swimming pools are not designed for swimming lessons, especially for children.”

He also explained that there are “accessibility concerns” as facilities in hotels are paid for by guests and “dedicated for their exclusive use”.

“From a tourism point of view, it could pose a negative impression on tourists,” Yap said.

Yesterday, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik urged hotels with swimming pools to offer their facilities to schools for student swimming activities.

He said discussions on the matter would be held with the hotels so they could work with the schools and treat the move as a CSR.

Meanwhile, the English publication also reported that parents are not too enthusiastic about the idea.

SMK Assunta Petaling Jaya Parent-Teacher Association chairman Alan Goh told the daily that Maszlee’s suggestion was “illogical”.

“There are so many students and what happens if the teacher is not able to pay attention to all of them?” he asked.

He also asked if the school or the hotel would be responsible if something “untoward” happened.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Tan said it was unfair to impose this policy on hotels.

“They will have to spend more on insurance as liability increases,” said the mother of two.