Exclusive: Behind The Scenes of Urutan Malaysia

Urutan Malaysia fuses over 60 techniques and applies it to every part of the body

The Malaysian Association of Wellness and Spa (MAWSpa), an organization representing the spa & wellness industry players in Malaysia, is one of the key players in developing Urutan Malaysia, which was launched in October 2017. In an exclusive interview with Sisters magazine, Dr. Baskaran Kosthi, the President of MAWSpa, explained further on the concepts of Urutan Malaysia.

Urutan Malaysia, which started off as “Malaysian Signature Massage”, is the brainchild of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture (MOTAC), as an effort to promote Malaysia as a tourism destination for spa & wellness treatment. Together with MAWSpa and other key players of the local wellness industry, MOTAC began developing Urutan Malaysia’s identity and methodology in 2012.

Dr. Baskaran Kosthi, President of MAWSpa.

“The idea of Urutan Malaysia came from the National Spa Council, which is to create something which is our own, just like how the Thais and the Indonesians have their own massage.” Dr. Baskaran explained.

When asked what was unique about Urutan Malaysia, he went into further details: “We bring in the Qi Gong therapy, the Indian head massage, the Malay urut, the indigenous style of massaging the legs. The foot itself is Chinese reflexology. We used the Marma points. We used a lot of techniques which is indigenous for Malay, Chinese, Indian, and all the other ethnicities in Malaysia, bringing the rituals together and forming the massage therapy.”

The massage oil used in Urutan Malaysia is also a fusion of various herbs used in traditional therapies.

The fusion element of Urutan Malaysia does not stop at massage techniques, but is also applied to the massage oils, as well as the general ambience during the treatment. MAWSpa will be organizing a Meet & Mingle networking session during Cosmobeauté Asia 2018 this 9 – 12 July 2018, and invites spa & massage therapists to attend and understand more on Urutan Malaysia.