Tourism Melaka is doing our first survey on the tourism products and services in Melaka.
Please take some time to participate in this survey. You can be rewarded with a Day tour from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka by Tourism Melaka.
Click here to participate in our first Tourism Melaka survey.
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.
The Hainanese Village of Melaka
MyKampung 2012-10-09 16:53
The Hainanese people started to emigrate to Melaka about a century ago. Photo courtesy: Guang Ming Daily
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Translated by WINNIE CHOOI
Guang Ming Daily
MELAKA — A translucent sunlight makes a perfect timing to explore Hang Tuah’s tomb with a wonderful setting of azure sea and blue sky. A complete journey should be accompanied with a search of the Qiongzhou accent omnipresent in the Hainanese Village as well as the unmistakable Hakka Dongjiang cuisine.
Tanjung Kling
Melaka is such a casual and romantic place where the beach could be reached within 30 minutes. One of the popular beaches in Melaka, Tanjung Kling is also the final resting place of national hero Hang Tuah.
Tanjung Kling is located about 10km northwest of the historic city. Along the road are rows of shophouses erected on reclaimed land with the coastline beyond. The beach is easily accessible with a short 10-minute drive from town. Its serene ambience makes it a perfect venue for leisure and recreational activities.
Kampung Hailam
Half way towards Tanjung Kling from the city centre, along the small road leading to Pantai Kundor is a milestone standing next to a shabby Malay shop house marking the entrance to “Hainanese Village, where environment is our common responsibility.”
Walking into the alley and not far away lies the sea followed by a few houses at one corner. Some 95% of residents living in the 9-acre Kampung Hailam are Hainanese, with only three Hokkien households.
During the West Han dynasty of China, the Hainanese people began emigrating to Southeast Asia. The Hainanese people started to come to Melaka about a hundred years ago. They came together to form a tiny fishing village rich in the Hainanese culture.
Fishing and cooking
There are about 50 households in the Hainanese Village leading a typically laid-back lifestyle in a strongly bonded society. However, due to the lack of development, most young villagers have moved to the city to make a living.
According to older villagers, their livelihood was mostly dependent on fishing during the colonial days. Many families here boil and dry the salt in their own compounds and almost every vacant plot of land in the village has been turned into salt fields. As fishing is the most primitive skills of the Hainanese people, many villagers have started to make fishing their main source of livelihood.
Records show that during the colonial days back in the 1950s, villagers quit fishing because of inconsistent income and became domestic helps for senior British officers in order to earn more lucrative incomes. In addition, the Hainanese were also known for their cooking skills and almost every Hainanese family has produced at least a chef serving at major restaurants worldwide.
Cherishing freedom
83-year-old villager Lin Jin Luan told Guang Ming Daily she had been living in the Hainanese Village for more than six decades ever since she was married to her husband and relocated here. She said majority of the fishermen in the village used to be Chinese but now there are more and more fishermen from other races.
Having grown accustomed to life by the sea, Lin said she would have problem adapting to the new life if she were to move away from the beach.
“How would you like to live in the city?” When confronted by the question from the Guang Ming Daily reporter, Lin replied, “Urban people lock themselves in the concrete cages; city living is not my cup of tea.
“I would never want to move into a bungalow even if I become rich one day. I would prefer to live by the beach and stare at the open sea.”
Lin’s daughter Yan Yu Zhuan, a maths teacher in the nearby SMK Bukit Rambai, chooses to remain in the tiny fishing village, unlike her contemporaries.
“If possible, I would like to continue living in the village.”
He Ping Hakka Restaurant
Hakka dishes are also known as Dongjiang dishes. Traditional Hakka food is characterised by its heavy taste and is somewhat salty, spiced and fatty. The saltiness is to prolong the preservation period of the food while fat provides the energy for Hakka people who used to be engaged in manual works, while spicy food stimulates the taste buds.
Located at Pantai Kundor about 10 minutes from Tanjung Kling and the Hainanese Village, the restaurant has been in operation for 15 years now. Among the Hakka specialties served are the abacus yam balls, pork with preserved vegetables, steamed duck and stewed bean curd.
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Kampung Hailam is also near to the Malacca Club Rotunda which is Malacca’s oldest club which was founded in 1890. Melaka Sailing Club used to be located near Kampung Hailam during the 1970s. Unfortunately, the sailing club is non-existent now.
Tourism Melaka is doing our first survey on the tourism products and services in Melaka.
Please take some time to participate in this survey. You can be rewarded with a Day tour from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka by Tourism Melaka.
Click here to participate in our first Tourism Melaka survey.
Tourism Melaka is doing our first survey on the tourism products and services in Melaka.
Please take some time to participate in this survey. You can be rewarded with a Day tour from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka by Tourism Melaka.
Click here to participate in our first Tourism Melaka survey.