SELAMAT HARI RAYA ADILFITRI, MAAF, ZAHIR & BATIN

Our best wishes and greetings to all Muslims that are celebrating Eid around the world.

MELAKA CITY ONE OF 5 FAVOURITE CITIES BY CHINESE BUYERS

• Thursday, 14 May 2020
  4:03 PM MYT

The five top Malaysian markets for Chinese buyers are Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Malacca City, Kota Kinabalu and Shah Alam.

THE EMPEROR HOTEL MELAKA TO CLOSE

Another Melaka hotel to close

By Marina Emmanuel - May 13, 2020 @ 10:00pm

The 228-room The Emperor Hotel Melaka is the next casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic. – File pic

KUALA LUMPUR: Another Melaka hotel is set to shutter its operations due to Covid-19.

The 228-room The Emperor Hotel Melaka is the next casualty of the pandemic.

The property's general manager Francis Lopez has notified the company's customers and business associates in a letter that the Covid-19 outbreak last year, followed by the Movement Control Order which was imposed on March 18 this year, had impacted business.

"As a result of this crisis, we are unable to sustain the business operations any further and the business is no longer viable, " Lopez said in a letter dated May 12, which was sighted by the New Straits Times.

"Regretfully, we are left with no other alternatives but to close for business indefinitely," he added.

No indication was given on the exact date of the hotel's closure.

"However, we will continue to perform our duties, fulfil our obligations and/or pursue our rights and entitlement under any of the existing contracts or legal arrangements with our contracting parties, " Lopez stated.

On April 29, it was reported that the five-star Ramada Plaza Melaka Hotel (previously known as the Renaissance Melaka) will cease operating on June 30, due to Covid-19.

The 294-room hotel is independently owned by MTB Sdn Bhd and operated under a management agreement with Wyndham Hotel Group Asia Pacific Co Ltd.

JONKER WALK SURVIVAL UNDER THREAT OF CLOSURE

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Jonker Walk on last legs with ongoing MCO, says local councillor

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• NATION
• Sunday, 10 May 2020
  9:16 PM MYT
  By R.S.N Murali

MELAKA: The iconic Jonker Street may not survive much longer without domestic tourism says a Melaka local councillor.

Melaka Historic City Council (MBMB) councillor Tan Chin Gwan said he is afraid that businesses at the tourism hotspot would not be able to sustain until June if there is no plan in place to revive the street.

"Almost a dozen business entities at Jonker Walk had been forced to close down as the owners were unable to sustain the monthly rentals as well as salaries for their workers.

"I hope the government considers opening a few sectors under the fifth phase of movement control order (MCO)," he said when interviewed here on Sunday (May 10).

Tan said business owners at Jonker Walk could be compelled to adhere to strict safety guidelines when opening their premises.

"I am afraid that Jonker Street would vanish from Melaka tourism map if it continues to be empty until June 9," he said.

Check on late Sunday evening shows that the street was empty with only a few people patronising convenience shops.

The night market at Jonker Sreet used to be a thoroughfare during weekends, attracting thousands of tourists before MCO

MELAKA TOURISM TO TAKE 2 YEARS TO RECOVER

Melaka’s Tourism Needs At Least 2 Years To Recover From Covid-19

BY HAKIM HASSAN

MAY 5, 2020

Picture Credit: Malay Mail

Melaka’s tourism industry would take at least two years to recover from the effects of Covid-19, according to the state’s tourism board.

This is after taking into account various factors such as the reasons behind the temporary or permanent closure of establishments during the Movement Control Order (MCO).

Melaka Tourism Board chairman Datuk Muhamad Jailani Khamis believes that the state’s industry tourism industry will fully recover within two years after the end of COVID-19 but trying to gain the trust of tourists to come to Melaka will take time.

Previously, the state has tried to implement strategies to lure tourists but it was cut short by the spread of the pandemic.

Among these were more air routes to domestic and foreign destinations via the Melaka International Airport in Batu Berendam.

He said the number of tourists using the airline services in Melaka increased to more than 100,000 last year compared to less than 20,000 in 2018.

TAILORS OF KEE ANN ROAD

The Tailors of Kee Ann Road, Malacca

Updated: Nov 28, 2019

Explore this hidden and fading cluster of tailors and sewing shops in the heart of Kampung Jawa, Malacca.

Malacca’s Kee Ann Road, or Jalan Kee Ann, is a road that runs in the heart of Kampung Jawa, Malacca, and is rich in history and culture. While still a busy road today, many businesses along it have flourished and withered over the decades, leaving behind certain traces that hint on past glitz and glory. One such trace is the old cluster of tailors and sewing shops obscured behind bamboo blinds and a plain façade.

No signage to indicate that tailors and sewing shops are available inside this building.

Business signage concealed behind bamboo blinds.

The side door access into the dim alleys. From the outside, it is easy to miss the dim and narrow alleys that navigate through the tiny shop lots, many of which are now vacant but have once been the venues of unending whirring sewing machines and scissors slicing through fabrics. All that is left now is a handful of shops that will continue to exist for only as long as their ageing occupants remain sewing.

The furnishing and equipment seem to be a reflection of the era during which businesses were at their peak. It is almost as if time has forgotten this place and the people carried on with their daily activities, oblivious to whatever development beyond those collapsible shutters. Here, you will see not only old equipment, but also witness them actually being used to make a living. It is also rather ironic that what we younger folks see as rare and prized vintage items, are common everyday items to these tailors that just happen to still be working, and are thus being milked of their last drops.

It’s a pity that this place has come down to just a few shops remaining in business. Its golden days have gone unrecorded and now exist only in the recollection of the generation who lived through them. It is only a matter of time before this generation leaves us, taking along with them those treasured memories.

To read more on the history of Kee Ann Road, click here.