Kidzania helps kids try out different jobs

By DENNIS CHAN

Growing up, I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer. Never mind that I had no idea what an aeronautical engineer did, except that it might involve building rockets. The job title sounded impressive and edgy, particularly to a kid who was fascinated by science-fiction stories.

I never found out what the job entailed as my tertiary education and subsequent career path took me in a different direction.

If you are a child prodigy such as Michael Jackson or Wolfgang Mozart, a career in the performing arts is pretty much mapped out for you from a young age.

But I know better than to ask my daughters, who are 11 and nine, what they want to be when they grow up.

At their age, Yanrong and Yanbei have not seen enough of the world to have any meaningful clarity about occupations.

Last December, my wife and I took them to KidZania in Selangor, on the advice of my eldest sister. “It’s an indoor theme park that combines fun with education,” she said.

I was initially sceptical as the name sounded like a playground for preschoolers. The girls have outgrown playgrounds. They were bored when I took them to Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden, which had enthralled them when they were younger.

An Internet search dispelled my doubts.

KidZania, founded in 1996 by Mexican entrepreneur Xavier Lopez Ancona, is a well-established children’s edutainment theme park, with franchises in cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Seoul. Plans are underway to set up KidZania in Singapore (in Sentosa) next year.

On its website, KidZania is described as a safe, unique and very realistic educational environment that provides children aged four to 12 adult role-playing activities.

Never one to waste an opportunity to incorporate a learning outcome or two into fun activities, I was sold. Perhaps the exposure to various jobs in KidZania could help my daughters think about what they want to be when they grow up, I thought.

My wife and I were also reassured by the strong emphasis on safety and security at the theme park. Adults are admitted only if they are accompanying their children. They have to pay between RM30 and RM50, even though they are not there to play. From what we observed, most parents left their kids at the door.

Entry fees for children range from RM35 to RM75.

But being the cautious parents that we are, both my wife and I paid to go in. I wanted to make sure the interior was well patronised.

On that score, it was comforting to note that the place was buzzing with kids and constructed to resemble a mini city. There was a bank, hospital, fire station, beauty salon, dental surgery, supermarket, television station, theatre, airline and a few others that I can’t quite recall.

KidZania KL boasts more than 60 stations catering to 90 activities. But not all were opened for “business” during our visit.

Our girls had a go at being a dentist, including operating on a life-sized doll in an authentic dental surgery setup. They played news anchors in an elaborate studio that included actual cameras and a studio console mixer.

They also learnt to make sushi and sandwiches, which they got to eat.

Yanbei, my younger daughter, claimed her sushi was really tasty.

Was the KidZania experience helpful in sussing out their dream jobs? Probably not.

While the girls have a better understanding of certain occupations following the visit, the emphasis on fun meant that their exposure was restricted to action-packed activities.

For instance, the role of a firefighter was popular as kids got to don suits and helmets, ride in a fire engine and spray water from a hose at a make-believe fire in a hotel.

But I didn’t see any “boring jobs” that tax the brain such as accounting and jobs for actuaries.

This is understandably so, as no child – save the geekiest – goes to a theme park to sit at a desk to crunch numbers. We have tuition centres for that sort of activity.

My daughters enjoyed the outing enormously even though they got to try out only half a dozen occupations within the allotted four-hour session because of long queues at popular stations.

So this coming June holiday, they have already made up their minds to visit KidZania again.

I promise I won’t ask if they gain any insight into what their future career may be. Que sera sera. – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network

KidZania is located at Curve NX in Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. For more information, go to kidzania.com.my.