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Cuisine in Melaka

NEW MELAKA FERRIS WHEEL TO BE HOUSED ON PULAU MELAKA

MALACCA: A new ferris wheel to replace the Eye On Malaysia will be erected on Pulau Melaka by a local private company this year.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam confirmed that Melaka Wonderland Sdn Bhd has agreed to source for a 85m-tall ferris wheel from China and are currently negotiating its purchase.

“The state has also decided to make Pulau Melaka the location for the new ferris wheel.

“This is because the former location in Kota Laksamana is near the heritage buffer zone,” he told reporters after visiting SJK(C) Bukit Beruang yesterday.

He noted that attempts to erect a new ferris wheel at the former site would delay the project as approval from the Paris-based Unesco World Heritage Committee is needed.

“There is a height restriction for development in the area and it would take at least one to two years for approval from the World Heritage Committee,” Mohd Ali said.

He said the state would either rent or lease a site on Pulau Melaka for the company to set up the new ferris wheel.

“We will not be involved in the project as it is a private initiative,” he said.

The 62m-tall Eye On Malaysia, a joint venture between MST Ad Suria Sdn Bhd and state-owned Eye On Malaysia Sdn Bhd, ceased when its Belgian owners Fitraco MV took possession of the wheel last Jan 7 over an RM18mil debt owed by MST Ad Suria.

The wheel was removed by Fitraco in October last year. Meanwhile, Mohd Ali said the state is also in negotiations with the Royal Malaysian Police to convert the present Melaka Tengah District Police station along Jalan Quayside and the Melaka Tengah Narcotics Department near Jalan Gereja into tourist attractions.

He said both police stations are located within the state’s core heritage zone and there are plans to make them into museums and tourist attractions.

He added that the state is ready to offer land on Pulau Melaka for schools such as SK Banda Hilir and St Francis Institution, both located within the state’s core heritage zone, and the police if they wish to relocate.

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Cuisine in Melaka

TOO MANY PROJECTS IN BANDAR HILIR CHOKING MELALA

MALACCA is a fast developing state with its own historic attractions.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam has taken Malacca to greater heights.

Over the years, new museums have been opened and many projects to attract more visitors and foreign investment have either been completed or are in the midst of completion.

However, excessive land reclamation, including the man-made island of Pulau Melaka, is of concern.

One can see how far away the sea now with land reclamation from Padang Pahlawan right up to Mahkota Parade and Melaka Raya.

It will not be a surprise if reclamation proceeds further in the name of development.

Is inspection conducted on a regular basis by the state government on buildings built on reclaimed land to ensure their safety and the safety of the public?

Whether there will be underground soil movement or erosion, or water movement that may cause harm in future has yet to be established.

Malacca’s proximity to Sumatra and possible impact from earthquakes is also cause for concern.

The Pulau Melaka project is ongoing, and the state government has decided to erect a 85m tall ferris wheel from China on it.

Again, the issue that needs to be addressed is the safety of the public.

During weekends, public holidays and school holidays, traffic is very heavy especially on the roads leading to Padang Pahlawan, Mahkota Parade, Jalan Bendahara, Jonker Walk and Jalan Bunga Raya.

To make it worse, Majlis Perbandaran Melaka inposes charges for parking during the weekends, too.

This does not help Malaccans who wish to spend quality time with their families and children.

Malacca also needs to improve its transportation system to complement the current town buses, taxis etc.

Malacca needs a light rail train (LRT) system to reduce the number of cars on the road during weekends.

I hope the state government takes into consideration our concerns before embarking on projects centred at one common area such as Mahkota Parade and Melaka Raya which may benefit the state but bring hardship to Malaccans.

GUNASEGAR THIYAGARAJA,

Kuala Lumpur.

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Cuisine in Melaka

MELAKA AXES SFI RELOCATION PROPOSAL

Monday January 10, 2011
Malacca axes SFI relocation proposal

By MARTIN CARVALHO malacca@thestar.com.my

MALACCA: The state government has shelved a proposal to relocate the 131-year-old St Francis Institution, currently sitting within the Unesco World Heritage site, to Pulau Melaka.

This follows a deluge of requests on Facebook to allow the school to stay put at its current site.
Former Franciscans had campaigned against the idea of relocation on a Facebook page, We Dont Want St Francis Institution To Be Relocated, which garnered 1,000 responses in five days.

Status quo: The 131-year-old St Francis Institution will remain at its present location.
“I was surprised at the swift and overwhelming response from the school’s former students and the public,” said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, who has agreed to overturn the earlier decision.

“I thank them for voicing their thoughts,” he told The Star, when contacted while on transit in Dubai on his way to attend the 39th World Boy Scouts Conference in Brazil.
“I understand that over 90% of them disagree with plans to relocate the school. So, the school can stay put,” he said.

On Wednesday, Mohd Ali said the state government would consider offering land to SFI and another school, SK Banda Hilir, on Pulau Melaka, touted as Malaysia’s first Twin Island City Centre.

The waterfront development project involves the reclamation of two islands, approximately 0.5km off the coast of Malacca new town centre.

The reclamation of the first island and construction of a 30m bridge linking it to the mainland has been completed.

The chief minister’s statement caused a furore among former SFI students, who launched their Facebook campaign to get feedback on the issue.

The issue of relocating the school, which has over 1,200 students, was first mooted in the early 1990s, following plans to convert the area and nearby St Paul’s Hill to a tourist hub. It was deferred following protests by former students.

Mohd Ali said the suggestion was meant to preserve the school building as an education museum, which will now be set up on Pulau Melaka instead.

Responding to the change of heart by the state government, SFI director Rev Bro Ambrose Loke said he was happy with the decision.

“I am glad the state has accepted the views of the former students and the public,” he said.
SFI Old Boys’ Association president Ong Eng Khiam said he was also happy.

“There is no need to turn SFI into a museum as it is already a living museum, with a rich legacy and is a tourist landmark,” he said.

Webmaster: I hope this decision covers SK Bandar Hilir (better known as BHES) as well. BHES is about 103 years old and we want a living school, not a museum devoid of the pupils. History is not about buildings and artifacts but buildings with people. The schools are where different generations of pupils have passed through their gates and nurtured by dedicated teachers.

We do not want these schools to be re-located in Melaka. In KL, famous schools such as Bukit Bintang Girls’ School and St. Mary’s were re-located because they sit on invaluable land in KL. These schools were there before development and they were part of the landscape of the city.

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Cuisine in Melaka

PRESERVATIONOFMELAKA PRE-WAR SHOPHOUSES

MALACCA: Many shophouses along the old street of Malacca Town are pre-war buildings and all of them are situated in the core area of the world’s culture heritage. Due to this reason, all renovation plans have to be approved by a special legacy unit of the government and no arbitrary reconstruction or maintenance is allowed. Therefore, owners who intend to “restore” the original appearances of their old houses are advised not to over-reconstruct them.

High costs

One of the owners of the old houses, Lai Hung Qian has inherited several old houses that belonged to his father in the past and all of them are situated in the core area of the Malacca World Heritage Site. He is renovating two of the broken old houses and suffering from the construction process. However, he is also gaining some happiness and satisfaction while looking at the old houses that are gradually showing their unique beauties.

He is headache with the problems of searching for materials, carpenters and historical data. Moreover, it is very costly and the most thorny problem is the original materials are hardly be found nowadays.

He is trying to renovate the old houses according to their original appearances even if it costs him a higher cost. He admitted that there is no economic benefit from doing so. However, he does not care about it.

the old look of Malacca has been destroyed

He calls on the public to take actual action in protecting the ancient city instead of just shouting slogans.

He found that at least 30% of the original appearances of Malacca have been washed away rapidly since the past few years. If the people of Malacca still do not know how to protect and cherish it, Malacca would soon disappear.

According to his experience as well as the reconstruction situations of some old houses, he found that the lack of governmental funding in renovating the old houses is the main reason of losing the original appearance of Malacca.

He said that renovating an old house is unbelievably costly and without the governmental funding, people have to adopt a modern and more economical way to complete the renovations. Therefore, it is hard to meet the requirements of restoring the original appearances.

Damages caused by foreign investors

In addition, many of these old houses have been reconstructed by foreign investors through the most economical and rapid way. They then sell or rent the houses at high prices and this type of price speculation has again damaged the original appearance of Malacca.

He believes that the situation might be different if monetary and technical assistance as well as encouragement are provided by the state government.

RM30 million to restore old buildings

The Malacca state government has received a restoration fee of RM30 million ringgit from the federal government. The fee is mainly used in restoring the Malay houses, mosques and the property owned by the Islamic Council.

Lai is currently renovating two old houses, he could hardly estimate the cost needed and the time of completion. He is not in a hurry to complete the projects as he does not want the monuments to be damaged out of carelessness.

One of the old houses is located at No.7 Jalan Kampung Kuli and he admitted that it was his second time stepping into the house after a few decades. He found that the owner of the old house in the 1920’s was a Chetti. It was later sold to the Xu family and it had also been a property of a bank before.

Comparing to the old house in the 1930’s which is located opposite to it, the house at No.7 Jalan Kampung Kuli is obviously older than it.

Lai is surprised to find a traditional Chinese clay sculpture on a wall in the yard. He intends to recruit a master to build a Chinese Pavilion there but the master still has not come yet after a year.

He spent RM270,000 to buy the house at No.112, Lorong Hang Jebat many years ago and he might need to spend RM400,000 to renovate it. The back of the house is just next to the Malacca River.

The St. Francis Xavier Church with a beautiful Gothic steeple on it can be seen through the back windows.

Lai found that this house is unique as it looks like traditional houses in Netherlands and it also contains the British colonial style. The previous owner of it was an Indian and the windows were made by Indian carpenters while elements of Chinese architecture can also be found outside the door.

He has also found an ancient well with special design beneath the courtyard. It is made of bricks and is nearly 10 feet deep. Its upper part is cylindrical while its bottom part is square. He is desperate to know the origins of the well and he is still leaving the well there as he is doing a research about it.

According to him, there is no economic benefit to renovate the old houses and the government should provide fund and encouragement to the public to restore old houses. Otherwise, it is difficult for them to conduct the renovation projects.

He has no idea of what to do with the old houses after they are completed. Finally, he said that he might rent them to the art galleries, artists, cafes and boutique hotels that concern about hygiene. (Translated by LIM LIY EE/Sin Chew Daily)

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Cuisine in Melaka

BULLOCK CARTS OF MALAYA

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.

VIEW MELAKA AT A GLANCE (2004)