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Cuisine in Melaka

UNESCO LISTING BOOSTS ARRIVALS

MELAKA- In 2008, UNESCO chose to register both cities of Melaka and Georgetown (State of Penang) into the World Heritage List. Both cities were seen as lively historical testimonies of 500 years of trading and cultural exchanges between East and West in the Straits of Malacca.

The UN agency for culture then acknowledged that few urban centres in Southeast Asia blended to intimately influences of Asia and Europe providing both towns with a specific multicultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. With its government buildings, churches, squares and fortifications, Melaka is a remarkable example of colonial architecture, which stretches back to the 15th-century Malay sultanate, continued with the Portuguese and Dutch presence from the early 16th century to finally become part of British Malaya before being part of the new independent Malaysia.

UNESCO then helped Melaka to preserve and renovate its blend of Chinese, European and Malay architectures as well as preserving its peculiar way of life. Over the last five years, old houses along the River have been renovated, some transformed into trendy cafes, eateries and hotels. In the evening special lighting effects turn also the city into an attractive night destination. 

Long considered as a sleepy outpost on the way from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, Melaka is now reviving as tourists and domestic visitors rediscover the city since its UNESCO inception.

In 2011, Melaka recorded its highest number of visitors ever at 12.165 million. They generated tourism revenues of RM 7.06 billion (US$ 2.2 billion).

According to State Tourism, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Datuk Wira Latiff Tamby Chik, growth in tourist arrivals was 17.5 per cent higher than in 2010.

During the first four months of 2012, growth continued unabated. Melaka welcomed during that period 4.11 million, a further rise of 13.3 % over the same months of 2011. From this number, 2.92 million were domestic tourists while the rest were foreigners.

Foreign arrivals grow faster than the domestic ones (37.3% versus 5.8%). The State government now believes that Melaka will welcome over 12.5 million visitors by year end. 

According to report by the State Tourism Department, Melaka top five foreign country tourist arrivals were China with 222,999 tourists followed by Singapore (185,277), Indonesia (16890), Taiwan (108,128) and Hong Kong (57,241).

Most popular attractions to the area are museums (312,058 visitors) followed by the Malacca River Cruise (279,338 visitors), Malacca Zoo (176,943) and Menara Taming Sari (169,340). 

A popular program in Melaka for foreign travellers is homestays with local people. Melaka offers 7 homestay programs officially registered with the Tourism Ministry. They welcomed last year 25,109 visitors, of which 8,883 were foreign guests. 

Among the new initiatives launched towards for travellers is a new website called ‘Welcome to Melaka’. The site provides travellers with everything about Malaysia’s capital city of culture by sharing some of Melaka’s best addresses, providing also web-surfers with articles and even discounts to selected shops. 

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Cuisine in Melaka

MELAKA FEST STARTS TOMORROW

Email    Print 20 September 2012 | last updated at 10:34PM

Taking arts to Malacca streets

THE largest and only site specific art and performance festival on a Unesco heritage site returns to Malacca for the fourth time from tomorrow to Sunday.

The Mapfest 2012 team

The Melaka Art And Performance Festival or Mapfest 2012, held daily at 10am, has performances by more than 50 local and international artistes from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, France, Ghana, South Korea, Ireland, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, Morocco, Canada, Poland and the United States.
They will perform on the streets along St Paul’s Hill and the asphalt will become their canvas.

Mapfest 2012 draws from Malacca’s famous heritage sites to create a space for contemporary culture and artistic practice. It will have components such as Cerita Pendek (Short Stories) 1 and 2, visual arts, discussions and workshops.
Cerita Pendek brings together dance, music and performances from all participating artistes in short works over two nights at St Paul’s Church.

On Sunday night, they will all perform Eulogy For The Living, a spectacular finale directed by Tony Yap and accompanied by live music, and projections by Khaled Sabsabi.
Producer Andrew Ching says: “The festival provides an avenue for up-coming performers to showcase their talents and collaborate with international artistes.”

Festival supporter the Malaysia Convention And Exhibition Bureau chief executive officer Zulkefli Sharif says that as a heritage site, Malacca has always been a popular tourist attraction and the festival enhances its offerings.

 
The event is set to attract more than 4,000 international attendees who can join a dance workshop by Australia’s leading dancer Appiah Annan of Asanti Dance Theatre who will introduce traditional and contemporary approaches to dance from his motherland, Ghana.

Mapfest 2012 is produced by Arts And Performance Festival Melaka and is supported by the Tourism Ministry, E-Plus Entertainment, Mercatus Plus, Badan Warisan Malaysia and the governments of the Netherlands, Australia and France among others.

Admission is free.

Details at www.melakafestival.com.
 

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Cuisine in Melaka

WANGKANG FESTIVAL 2012

Email    Print 02 February 2012 | last updated at 12:51am
Sending a boatload of evil spirits back to hell

By KELLY KOH LING MIN
MALACCA
news@nst.com.my | 0 comments

Rare procession to rid Malacca of misfortune

A Wangkang organising committee member preparing the wooden boat that will be paraded around the streets of Malacca on Feb 6 to collect evil spirits and negative elements. Pic by Mohd Khairul Helmy
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  IT is not an annual event like  Chinese New Year or  Chap Goh Mei, but the Wangkang Festival is nevertheless important in the Chinese  calendar, especially for the Hokkien community.

  Wangkang is a festival which is believed to have its beginnings 150 years ago and it comes around once in several decades. This is only the fifth time that it is held in Malacca in the form of a boat procession.

  The last three Wangkang festivals took place in 1919, 1933 and 2001, and there are no records on when the first was held in the country.

  The event is aimed at ridding evil spirits in the state and country. It may be a once in a lifetime experience  as it is only held when the medium at the temple gets the command from the heavens.

  The 2012 Wangkang organising committee chairman, Lai Poon Pen, 55, said instructions from the “Heaven God” stated that this year is an unfortunate year as Malacca would be struck by disasters.

  “It was last year when we got this important message, and I was chosen to  carry out the festival.”  

   It is also known as the King Barge Festival and it is a tradition of the Chinese Peranakan, whose ancestors migrated to Malacca from the Hokkien-speaking provinces of China during the colonial era.

   “The idea of having the Wangkang boat procession around  town is to collect evil spirits, wandering souls and other negative elements on the road, and send them away to bring in  health, peace and happiness  to the people of Malacca.

   “The festival starts with the rising of the koh teng, an oil lamp on a 12m bamboo pole,  to send a message to heaven  that an important event will be held soon.

   “As for the boat, we have different names for it each year. In 1919, it was called Lian An, meaning united peace while in 1933, the boat was named Ming An, which means people’s peace. It was Jia An in 2001, meaning Malacca peace, and this year, it is Chuan An which means total peace,” said Lai  at the Yong Chuan Tian Temple in Banda Hilir yesterday.

  He said  the 5.8m-long, 2.5m-wide and 2m-high boat was made of wood by five committee members.

  “The RM80,000 boat will be loaded with rice, water, wine, joss paper, herbs, pots, pans, stoves, and  supplies for the evil spirits  as we believe there should be an equilibrium between heaven, earth and hell.”

  Lai said the Tourism Ministry gave RM10,000 and the state government provided RM15,000 towards the cost of building the boat.

  The rest of the money was collected from the people.

  The Wangkang will be paraded in the streets here on Feb 6 —  the last day of  Chinese New Year which is also Chap Goh Mei —  before being  set ablaze in a bonfire.

Read more: Sending a boatload of evil spirits back to hell – General – New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/local/general/sending-a-boatload-of-evil-spirits-back-to-hell-1.40726#ixzz1lDxA289x

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Cuisine in Melaka

NO PROPER JETTY FOR CRUISE PASSENGERS

Monday January 16, 2012

No proper jetty for cruise passengers

I REFER to K.T. Teh’s “Let’s make Malaysia ‘Best in Asia’ tour destination” (The Star, Jan 11).

I visit the Malacca jetty area almost every week as an agent for the cruise ship calling on Malacca.

Our efforts to get some improvements to the jetty from the state government to attract more tourists have not been fruitful.

The state government has arranged to dredge the river mouth towards the CIQ building that is under construction but the dredging will not in anyway assist in promoting tourism via sea.

There is no proper jetty for these passengers to disembark. The vessels drop anchor near the river mouth and tourists are transferred to the jetty which is congested with fishing/cargo boats and is an eyesore.

The state government has done nothing to improve this.

Though the jetty may be privately owned, the state government’s participation to transform the area is inevitable.

There is a lot of red tape over the dredging, and when we requested for assistance from the government for the jetty they are not able to assist due to the cost factor.

While the Tourism Ministry is doing the promotion on one side, the bureaucracy at the state level is pulling in the opposite direction.

How can tourism be expected to grow?

One officer even had the cheek to say: “We are not interested in your tourists”.

This kind of attitude will kill not boost the tourism industry.

It is high time the ministry steps in to check what is happening in Malacca and come up with a real action plan to boost the industry.

DRAGON MAN,

Port Klang.

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Cuisine in Melaka

MELAKA LITTLE INDIA RENOVATION WORKS

Wednesday October 12, 2011

Facelift works in Malacca’s Little India to be completed before Deepavali
By R.S.N. MURALI
murali@thestar.com.my

MALACCA: The Festival of Lights is set to shine brighter on the business community in Malacca’s Little India following the resolution of a controversy over its facelift works.

State Suburban Development and Agriculture Committee chairman Datuk R. Perumal said work on the site would resume and be completed before Deepavali, which falls on Oct 26.

“We have settled all the hitches surrounding the contractor’s ap pointment. Work has commenced and will be completed as scheduled,” he said in an interview here yesterday.

Dissatisfaction over the appointment had brought the RM2mil project, which was supposed to emulate Jonker Walk’s success, to a standstill for over a week.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam had directed Perumal to sort out the dispute over the appointment, which was made in September.

Perumal said although the disgruntled group accused the state of cronyism when it awarded the job to a reputable contractor here, the tender had gone through normal procedure.

“The selection board granted the job to only the qualified bidder without any favouritism,” he said, adding that the state government wanted to ensure that the project was implemented smoothly.

“We managed to explain the rationale for the appointment of that particular contractor to the unsuccessful bidders. Finally, it was accepted,” said Perumal, who is also state MIC chairman.

He said the state was stringent in awarding the job and some of those who bid for the contract did not even meet the requirements set by the tender board.

Perumal said the job involved designing and building as well as installing ornaments for the stretch from Padang Nyiru, and along Jalan Laksamana and Jalan Bunga Raya that was within Little India.

He added that the contract for the project was managed by the State Development Board on behalf of the Tourism Ministry.