The story of a princess who lived on the island of Langkawi has captured the imagination of Malaysians for generations, making it perhaps the most well-known of Malaysia's legends.

With its volatile mix of a beautiful princess, jealousy, wrongful accusations, untimely death and a curse, it is a favourite Malaysian legend.

Princess Mahsuri - a beautiful noble woman - was wrongly accused of adultery and sentenced to death. As she lay dying, she cursed the island - saying it would not prosper for seven generations.

Call it superstition or coincidence, the island's slumberous existence ended seven generations later, when Malaysia's former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad saw in it a tremendous untapped potential as a world-class tourism destination.

In 1987, the Federal Government declared Langkawi a duty-free port - and the island was spurred to develop into a prime holiday spot. 1997 marks a decade of Langkawi's status as a thriving duty-free island.