TOURISM MELAKA FIRST SURVEY

Tourism Melaka is undertaking our first on-line Tourism Melaka survey.

Visitors can log onto our website and participate in this Tourism Melaka survey.

Simply answer our questions in our on-line survey and submit once you have answered the questions. Your feedback will help us to inform the necessary agencies in Melaka in improving our products and services for visitors.

As a token of appreciation for taking your time in participating in our inaugural survey, one of the participants can win a complimentary day tour from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka.

So, why not take part in this survey now. We value your feedback and comments.

Thank you.
Webmaster
www.tourism-melaka.com

MELAKA AND GEORGETOWN, PENANG DECLARED WORLD HERITAGE CITIES ON 7TH. JULY 2008

Time flies and very soon Melaka and Georgetown, Penang will be celebrating the UNESCO World Heritage Cities status on 7th. July. Both these cities were declared as UNESCO World Heritage Cities on 7th. July 2008.

It is very important that we focus on preserving the heritage status of both cities so that our future generations can enjoy the fruits of our labour.

We need to maintain and build on our well-earned status so that visitors from all over the world can enjoy our cultures, food and hospitality.

Let us strive to make our cities better and better in years to come. We must not rest on our laurels.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MELAKA AND GEORGETOWN FOR BEING DECLARED WORLD HERITAGE CITIES BY UNESCO ON 7TH. JULY 2008.

PUDU JAIL ( 1895 to 2010 )

Pudu Jail wall after demolition on 24th. June 2010

Yesterday, 21st. June 2010 at 10.00pm, was a sad day for all Malaysians when the 115 years old Pudu Jail in Kuala Lumpur was partly demolished.


Pudu Jail was built by the British in 1895 to house convicted persons who were a threat to the civilised society.


Numerous prisoners met their death in Pudu Jail over the years until 1996 when the last convict was executed.


Eventhough Pudu Jail had an infamous history which we may not be proud of, we cannot demolish history by bulldozing the physical foundations of the building.


It is unfair to the history of Malaysia and Malaysian citizens when some government officials said that Pudu Jail has no heritage value despite it was 115 years old.


We cannot live in self-denial that such buildings (even with their dark history) cannot be made a heritage building. Maybe, it was the valuable real estate that the building stood on that made the government of the day to think otherwise.


Melaka lost her valuable city walls in the 19th. century because the British wanted to destroy Melaka's fortifications so that Melaka cannot rise up again. They wanted to build up their new cities like Singapore and Penang.


Luckily, it was Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore who came to Malacca to recuperate, saw the utter madness by destroying the City Walls of Malacca.


Through his intervention and a strongly worded appeal letter to Lord Minto in Calcutta, India that a small part of Malacca City Walls was safe.


This important relic of yesteryears was none other than the "A Famosa" which still stands today.


"A Famosa" is the most photographed icon visitors can remember about Malacca. The other is the "Stadthuys" which was the Dutch Governor residence in Malacca.


The sad part of the whole Pudu Jail affair is that in months to come, Pudu Jail will only live in memories of people who remember Pudu Jail and in photographs of Kuala Lumpur of the past.


RIP Pudu Jail


Au Revoir Pudu Jail of Kuala Lumpur ( 1895 to 2010 )

HOP ON N HOP-OFF MELAKA RIVER CRUISES

MELAKA RIVER CRUISE will soon launch a HOP-ON N HOP-OFF Melaka River cruises to visitors for RM 10.00.

Tickets can be bought on the boats which will allow visitors to drop off and come-on at designated spots along the Melaka River.

Currently, the spots are : Kampung Morten, Medan Selera, Melaka River Pirate Park, Padang Nyiru, Tourist Police and Jonker Street.

By doing so, visitors can visit interesting places along the Melaka River before continuing their visits to other places.

This new service will be useful to visitors. Maybe in the future, it will allow travellers to buy tickets for different spots along the river based on different fares. For example, if we want to travel on to the next spot, we can pay RM 1.00 for the journey, RM 2.00 for 2 spots etc.

We can turn the Melaka River Cruise into a mode of transport and beat traffic jams on the roads.

Something for us to think about.

CURTAINS FALL ON REGAL HOTEL, MELAKA.

REGAL HOTEL ( 1969 TO 2010 )

Regal Hotel at Jalan Bendahara, Melaka, which was once THE HOTEL in Malacca, in early 1970's has been sold to a Singaporean investor.

The original owners of Regal Hotel viz. the family members of Woh Chun Hardware, started Regal Hotel in 1969.

During that time, the 5 storeys hotel with room airconditioners in each room and a lift to the Chinese Restaurant on the top floor, was the hotel Malaccans can be proud of.

Various dinners and functions were held at this Chinese Restaurant there.

However, over the years, especially during the 1980s, multi-storey high rise hotels were built.

The most notable one is the Ramada Hotel (later Renaissance Hotel, Melaka) opened in 1984 operated and managed by the Ramada Hotel chain. Later, the Ramada Hotel chain terminated their contract and the Ramada Hotel was renamed Renaissance Hotel, Melaka.

To date, Renaissance Hotel, Melaka is managed by JW Marriot and is a 5 Star hotel in the heart of Malacca.

Regal Hotel original owners later disposed the property to a local hotel operator in 1990s and was renamed "New Regal Hotel".

Some effort was made to spruce up the hotel in later 1990s but "New Regal Hotel" was not able to compete with new entrants of budget hotels in Melaka.

In late May 2010, the "New Regal Hotel" was sold to a Singaporean hotelier who operates the "Hallmark Hotel" at Jalan Kubu.

Since then, the premises have been shut for renovation and refurbishment. It remains to be seen how the new refurbished hotel will look like but all Malaccans will want it to remain an affordable hotel to visitors.

The new name should also be known when the refurbishment are completed by the end of 2010.

Malaccans look forward to long term investors to Malacca and other investments in the tourism sectors.

MELAKA REPAINTS HERITAGE HOUSES

Our Heritage Shophouse at No. 12, Jalan Kee Ann, 75000 Melaka

Over the past few months of 2010, Melaka - World Heritage City, has be re-painted to a more pleasant and pastel colours.

All heritage houses in various Melaka heritage streets were re-painted by the Melaka Historic City Council. Costs of re-painting will be paid via the house half yearly assessments. This practice has been done previously and will continue in years to come.

By doing so, Melaka City will always look pleasant and fresh to visitors. We certainly do not want to see a drabby Heritage City to world visitors.

My father's heritage house at Jalan Kee Ann, was repainted recently. More pleasant but a bit less contrasting in colour. Now, it looks fresh and vibrant - like other heritage houses within the heritage zones of Melaka.

CARI MAKAN IN HISTORICAL MELAKA

I now remember the Popiah (Malacca best style). I also remember the nice Malacca Bubur Cha Cha from Glutton's Corner (at the seaside/sea front which now has been reclaimed) at Sky & Night Star stalls which are a few stall away.

Then there's the unique Malacca style Mee Siam, available nearby.

The famous Saturday Ice Cafe is still there and their favorite famous drinks are still there.

Don't forget unique Malacca Char Kuey Teow, which will add at the side of the plate, the sweet sauce (only Malacca has that, maybe Penang also has that?).

This is still available at Sat Ice Cafe.

Koh Lon Mee or Wan Tan Mee is also very uniquely Malacca style where the texture & taste are different from other states. On top of it, they will ask whether to include chilly sauce in their mee sauce when they serve it.

The famous Hainam Chicken Rice at Bandar Kaba I now recall. Many also remember and like the nice chicken & other variety meat rice in the Bunga Raya food lane. At night it sells nice Oyster Omelette (O Chien-in Hokkien)

Then down the road, at night (just before Madam King's shopping complex), there's the nice Yaw Char Kwai & Ham Chee Pheng (in Cantonese)

Nam Wah Chicken Rice is also famous & is still there located on right side coming from St Peter's church, before turning into Ramada Hotel

During our school days, remember the simple Tau Kuah, with sliced pineapple & Cucumber, spiced with the the black sauce & rich red chilly sauce - really yummy; you can still find this at beginning of Tranquerah Road, opposite the Seng Cheong Hall, used to be a Kopitiam shop, next to Shell Station, but now revamped into many stalls. Also used to have the famous Huey Piah (Prawn Crackers, sliced fish paste & tau kuah plus timun (cucumber) there but the future generation could not carry it over.

What about the famous indian chendol at Clock Tower. Its still there but the stall moved & metamorphized. Used to be on a push cart near the Tower, then re-located to opposite the road, then after in a mangosteen shape stall (was really crazy-poor ventilation etc) & now finally in a stationary place in a push cart stall (I think?) in a clean paved place at same location.

I was told the popular among Ujong Pasir ppl, the Malay Mee Rebus in Malacca famous tricycle food cart located in a chinese (halal) shop located in Ujong Pasir, at the cross road intersection of the main road, while the other road leads to the Portuguese Settlement or also to SHC (Sacred Heart Convent, not Sin Heng Chan)

How about Chee Chong Fun (with added yam cake) and Malacca Satay made with shredded pineapple added in the sauce. The taste becomes really unique & is really nice.

As for satay chelup, the famous ones are now located at the junction of Lorong Bkt China & Mill Road (or Jln Temenggong). The other popular stalls are at Ong Kim Wee Road, near/behind the Kubu Stadium side.

I am sure those in Malacca or the Ex Malaccans who frequent Malacca can surely add to my list.

Enjoy reading
Patrick Low
A Malaccan

TOURISM MELAKA ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

Since April 2010, Tourism Melaka can be found on the evergrowing Social Network site at www.facebook.com and www.twitter.com.

Come join our group at Facebook to express your views and comments regarding the development of Tourism in Melaka - World Heritage Site, Unesco.

You can follow us at Twitter through our Twits. Better still is for you to become our growing list of Tourism Melaka followers.

Click on www.twitter.com/tourismmelaka.

Hope all of you will participate and popularise Melaka as a tourism destination to the world.

MELAKA SULTANATE BEGAN IN 1262?

May 31, 2010 21:43 PM

New Date On Establishment Of Melaka Malay Sultanate Discovered

MELAKA, May 31 (Bernama) -- A research team appointed by the Melaka state government has discovered that the Melaka Malay Sultanate had in fact begun in 1262, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam.

He said the new date rejects the previous date, 1278, which was announced by the team last month.

"The new date will also put to rest, earlier opinions by writers who stated that Melaka was established in 1400," he told reporters after launching a seminar on when the Melaka Malay Sultanate began, organised by the Malaysian Institute of Historical and Patriotism Studies (IKSEP), here Monday.

The nine-member team, comprising historians from local universities, was chaired by Melaka Islamic University College vice-chancellor Prof. Emeritus Datuk Wira Dr Mohd Yusoff Hashim, while the research team was headed by Prof Dr Abdullah Zakaria Ghazali from Universiti Malaya's History Department.

They were assigned to carry out research and studies to identify the establishment of the Melaka Malay Sultanate as a political entity, which started in June last year.

Mohd Ali said the team had chosen 1262, based on the Raja Bongsu version of the Malay Annals, or Sulalatus al-Salatin.

"So far our team is confident that 1262 is the accurate year, but if any other quarters find another date, then, they can bring forward supporting evidence for their claim," he added.

Meanwhile, Abdullah Zakaria said the team had conducted research and field work in various locations in Malaysia and Indonesia such as Pulau Bentan, Pulau Penyengat, Pulau Singkep, Pulau Lingga, Palembang, Jambi, Padang and Batu Sangkar.

He said after 1278 was announced on April 17, his team continued to carry out research until they discovered the new date of 1262 but did not plan to carry out further studies.

A total of 250 individuals, including historians, took part in the seminar and unanimously agreed on the new found date.

-- BERNAMA