MELAKA TRISHAW OPERATORS GIVEN ADVICE TO UPHOLD MELAKA IMAGE

Friday, 9 June 2017

Melaka trishaw riders warned to toe the line

BY ROSHIDI ABU SAMAH

image: http://www.thestar.com.my/~/media/online/2017/06/08/21/01/mets_0906_3mlkbeca_sd_1.ashx/?w=620&h=413&crop=1&hash=0D0208454381E62160376336B53D0CC4FD1AE826

A total of 12 complaints were made by foreign tourists against trishaw riders last year. — filepic

 

MELAKA: Trishaw riders here must maintain their discipline and appearance or face the risk of losing customers in the future.

Deputy Tourism and River, Beach and Island Development committee chairman Datuk Ghazale Muhamad said the state tourism authority had received a total of 12 complaints from foreign tourists against trishaw riders in 2016.

He said the complaints were for imposing excessive fares (four cases), sexual harassment (one) and riding against the flow of traffic (seven).

“Such incidents, if continue to occur, will affect the good name of trishaw services here as well as the state’s reputation as one of the top tourism destinations in the country,” he told reporters after presenting duit raya and Raya goodies to 309 trishaw riders at Restauran Melayu here.

He said the complaints were received via tour guides, phone calls, tourist police and social media.

Ghazale said no complaints were received from local tourists because those irresponsible trishaw operators did not dare to commit the same acts on them.

However, he said on a positive note, no complaints against trishaw operators have been recorded from January to April this year.

“I hope this situation will continue to be maintained,” he said.

Ghazale said a total of 5.38 million tourists have visited the state between January and April this year compared to 4.77 million tourists recorded during the same period last year.

He said if such momentum continues, the state is on the right track to attract 16.75 million tourists this year compared to the 16.28 million tourist arrivals last year.

“Our data to date indicates that the top three foreign tourists to Melaka are from China, Singapore and Indonesia, while the top three domestic tourists are from Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Johor,” he added.

Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/community/2017/06/09/melaka-trishaw-riders-warned-to-toe-the-line/#JwQItvmz6LYeZ7ES.99

ANCIENT UNDERGROUND TUNNEL IN MELAKA FOUND

image: http://www.thestar.com.my/~/media/online/2017/06/09/19/15/main_ax_1006_p3b_40p_ax_1.ashx/?w=620&h=413&crop=1&hash=0922630F65340CAEDDCAEBC5592E4817667845F9

Intriguing find: The historical dig where the tunnel was found at Banda Hilir in Melaka.

 

MELAKA: An old secret tunnel linking St Paul’s Hill to St John’s Hill has been found, with the state museum body saying more explorations will follow.

Melaka Museum Authority general manager Datuk Khamis Abas said he always believed that the underground pathway existed, based on research by archaeologists.

Both locations are about 5km apart, with St Paul’s Hill inside the Unesco World Heritage Site’s buffer zone and St John’s Hill in Ujong Pasir.

Khamis said more study was needed to find out the actual distance and whether any artefacts were left there by the Portuguese when they fled the Dutch conquerors in 1641 or by the Dutch themselves.

St Paul’s Hill has a hidden doorway near the entrance of the fort, Khamis said.

“It was probably used as a secret escape route by the Portuguese. We only recently confirmed its existence,” he told The Star yesterday.

Legend has it that a dragon-like creature guards the tunnel, but “that is only a myth”, laughed Khamis.

There was a story circulating that several archaeologists from Germany were exploring the underground pathway in the early 1990s and quit after their tracker dog was mauled by a creature inside.

Many historians, including Munshi Abdullah, have also told of the tunnel at St Paul’s Hill.

In Hikayat Abdullah, published in 1849, Munshi said one could walk to the Governor’s residence atop St Paul’s Hill through the tunnel.

Other historians, like John Cameron and Rev Father Rene Cardon, also wrote about it, with some claiming that the records of tunnels built by the Portuguese and Dutch in Melaka are kept in Europe.

Khamis said there was talk of a tunnel running from the Hang Li Poh Well to the Bank Simpanan Nasional building in Jalan Munshi Abdullah, but this was found to be untrue.

“We researched and found there was no such tunnel. It was rumoured to be filled with gold,” he said.

But such rumours have taken on a life of their own over time and there are some people in the state looking for treasure from the Melaka Sultanate.

According to Khamis, these treasure hunters focus on three locations where they believe that Melaka palace officials buried gold bars to hide them from the Portugese.

Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/06/10/secret-tunnel-found-in-historical-site-more-explorations-planned-after-passageway-in-melaka-discover/#0QWih2YJoE2t0QqE.99

TOURISTS ARRIVAL RISES

MALACCA: The total number of tourists visiting Malacca rose to 5.38 million in the first four months of this year as compared to 4.77 million for the same period last year, said State Tourism, River, Beaches and Islands Development Committee deputy chairman Datuk Ghazale Muhamad.

He said the increase of 12.7% was very a big push for Malacca which was targeting 16.75 million tourists this year with domestic tourists being the largest contributor with 3.69 million as compared to 1.69 million foreign tourists in the first four months of this year. 

"On May 19, Malacca was listed in fifth spot in 'The World's Trendiest Holiday Destinations' in a report of The British Post which opens a new dimension for tourists to continue choosing Malacca as the best holiday destination in the world," he told reporters here today.

Earlier, he had officiated an Empowering Seminar and Hari Raya Contribution Presentation for 309 trishaw riders registered with Malacca Historic City Council as a trishaw ride is among the main tourist attractions in the state.

Also present were Tourism Promotion Division general manager Norena Jaafar and Tourism and Culture Ministry director for Malacca, Jeffri Munir.

Ghazale said the five main sources of foreign tourists were China with 30.45%, Singapore (20.78%), Indonesia (12.99%), Taiwan (3.86%), and Japan (2.96%). 

He said Selangor contributed the largest number of domestic tourists with 518,265 or 15.34%.

Therefore, he said all parties involved in the Malacca tourism industry need to promote cooperation to boost the development of the industry and attract more tourists to the state.

Meanwhile, Ghazale said last year, the state government received 12 complaints involving the misconduct of trishaw riders. 

"From the total, seven involved trishaw riders going against the traffic flow and four for unreasonable charges and the remaining number involved verbal sexual harassment.

"In this regard, they were called and given warning not to repeat the offences as they are the industry's frontliners and it is the responsibility of all to protect the image and to raise the prestige of the state tourism industry," he said. — Bernama

MELAKA RIVERSIDE BOAT STAY?

Why can't Melaka offer Melaka Riverside boat stay for tourists?

It can be another interesting tourist product other than normal stays in hotel rooms, guest houses or homestays.

Riverside boats with such facility can be berthed along a suitable place along the river.
London, Paris and Amsterdam have people living on river barges, so Melaka River can have them as well.

Food for thought?

OLD STREETS NAME AND CURRENT STREETS NAMES

This is the list of old and current street names in Melaka.

JALAN BUNGA RAYA

Monday, 22 May 2017

A place with over 500 years of history

BY AIDA AHMAD

image: http://www.thestar.com.my/~/media/online/2017/05/21/20/38/metd_2205_9aamela_sd_5.ashx/?w=620&h=413&crop=1&hash=B025D317947BE11731F061A3F0D233110366568A

When the first traffic lights were introduced in Melaka in the second half of last century, at the intersection of Bunga Raya and Newcome Roads, people from outlying areas would congregate there just to watch the lights change.

 

SQUALOR. Gambling. Opium. Prostitution. All these made up the vices along Jalan Bunga Raya, Melaka, in its history until the 1970s.

If you stand at one end of Jalan Bunga Raya, with Discovery Cafe on your left and Taj Grand Hotel on your right, this is where wealthy Chinese merchants used to live.

A lot of the two-storey colonial buildings still maintain the original architecture, with the iconic big windows and wooden shutters.

These old-style houses comprise shops on the ground floor and residence upstairs.

“During Chinese New Year, I used to hang out with my classmates on the balcony and we would throw live fire crackers down to the road.

“It was fun and no one took offence. But that was then,” reminisced heritage enthusiast Colin Goh, a sprightly Melaka-born in his 70s.

The Bunga Raya area was a domain for fishermen and it was populated by Javanese people during the Sultanate period at the turn of the 14th century. During the Portuguese era, it mainly comprised orchards and coconut groves.

After the Dutch drove the Portuguese out of Melaka in 1641, they started kilns for making clay bricks and lime plaster in this suburb.

Today, as you walk along Jalan Bunga Raya, you can see some of the dark orange bricks from the etched out laterite stone walls, a symbol of the Dutch-Portuguese era and more importantly, how old the structures and materials are.

Towards the last quarter of the 19th century, Jalan Bunga Raya changed slowly. Melaka as a whole emerged from its slow-paced life.

Its tourism draw has lessened when compared to other places such as Penang and Singapore.

“With the advent of the rubber industry, things began to look better. Bunga Raya saw urban renewal,” said Goh.

Before we proceeded further down memory lane, Goh introduced me to one of his favourite (and many Melaka-born people) shops – Tai Chong Ice Cafe for some Sweet Corn Ice with Milk. As it was a stifling hot day, a bowl of this was a respite.

“As far as I know, people returning to Melaka make their pilgrimage to this shop for local desserts. It’s a sentimental thing,” he said. Ice cream and ice desserts here cost no more than RM4.

“Tai Chong is a well-known name in the area for the ice cafe as well as baking goods shop and stationery shop. There are many wall columns embossed with Chinese calligraphy and dates like ‘1911’, probably symbols of ownership from the wealthy businessmen.

“These Chinese gentlemen became wealthy from rubber trades. They helped the city prosper through philanthropy. One of them was Tan Kim Seng who had a bridge named after him near Jalan Bunga Raya.

“Melaka did not receive much funding for developments from the British government then. There were hardly any development compared to George Town and Singapore,” said Goh.

The British occupied Melaka from 1795 to 1818 and from 1824 until the country celebrated its independence in 1957.

“You can also see that the rows of houses, built during the British period, have narrow walkways that serve as ‘fire break lanes’.

The part of Jalan Bunga Raya that was notorious for vice was Jalan Java (Kampung Java).

“Today, it is fashionable (for tourists) to stay here. But in its earlier days, it was seedy with gambling, opium trade and prostitution,” Goh said.

The whole street is somewhat charming, as we passed by Sin Hiap Hin liquor shop, which is more than 80 years old.

There was also a story circulating that some of the Japanese who resided in Jalan Bunga Raya in the 1930s were spies.

Some locals believe they came to Melaka on the pretext of securing jobs as dentists and photographers, when in fact they were spies for the Japanese government.

“During the Emergency, Europeans patronised the famous Asia Hotel along this road which was known for its opium dens and prostitution,” said one local who did not want to be named.

There are plenty of stories about the heyday of Jalan Bunga Raya and you are bound to find someone from here to regale you further.

Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/focus/2017/05/22/a-place-with-over-500-years-of-history-melakas-jalan-bunga-raya-has-seen-the-rise-and-fall-of-severa/#lybWKzfCrczrF61m.99

FLIGHTS BY AIRASIA TO MELAKA FROM QUONGCHOW AND JAKARTA