Thursday, October 20, 2011

INCENTIVES FOR HOTEL INVESTORS

Special Incentives Await Hotel Investors
In Melaka

MELAKA, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- About 70 per cent
of income tax exemption will be given to
entrepreneurs who invest in four and five-star
hotel development in Melaka.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said
60 per cent of investment tax allowance would
also be given within five years to encourage
investment in the hotel industry.
"The state government will continue to focus on
building more hotels, resorts, chalets, homestay
and hostels to meet the needs of tourists
coming to the state.
"We are also targeting about 11 million tourists
to Melaka, and up to July this year, we have
received a total of 6.6 million tourists... and I
believe it could be achieved by the end of this
year," he told reporters after launching The
Heritage Melaka in Bandar Hilir here Saturday.
Mohd Ali said, so far, Melaka had a total of
12,857 rooms, adding that 15 new hotels would
be built with an addition of 3,542 rooms.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

MELAKA SULTANATE AROUND SINCE 1200s?

Published: Monday October 17, 2011 MYT 7:14:00 PM

Malacca Sultanate around since 1200s not 1400: Ali Rustam

MALACCA: The Malacca Sultanate began in 1262 and not 1400 as widely believed, said Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam.

He said a group of historians, through the Malaysian Institute for History and Patriotism Research (IKSEP), managed to prove the earlier existence of the sultanate.

"The discovery of this fact is proven through the writings of Raja Bongsu in the book, 'Salatus Salatin'.

"It is also proven by our historians that we have a high civilisaton," he told reporters after opening a seminar in conjunction with the 749th anniversary of the founding of Malacca here.

Profesor Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim, who presented a paper titled "Melaka, Mother of Malaya" at the seminar, said the present generation had little knowledge on the country and its society.

"This phenomenon is worrying. History does not just focus on the olden days but also on developments until the present day," he said.

Mohd Ali said the lack of history knowledge and appreciation have made the people lose their true identity and become materialistic.

He said the country should continue producing historians or social scientists as they were important in helping to raise self awareness and in developing a true identity among Malaysians.

"The action by certain universities to reduce the intake of students for the arts and social science stream is not appropriate," he said.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

MELAKA COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTED TO MALAYAN INDEPENDENCE TALKS AND CHINA REVOLUTION 100 YEARS AGO

10th. October 2011

Most Malaccans may not know the fact that the Malaccan community contributed financial donations to the Chinese revolution in 1911 headed by Chinese leader, Sun Yat Seng.

When I first visited China in 1988 especially to Quongchou, in the Sun Yat Seng Park, there is a monument erected there that showed overseas Chinese contributions to the Chinese republic cause then against the Ching dynasty. The top contributor to the Chinese cause was the Community of Malacca. I was surprised to see the granite block on top of the monument! Malaccans did their part in contributing to the setting up of the Republic of China 100 years ago.

Without the financial support of overseas Chinese residing all over world, the political world map will be very different today.

During the quest for Malayan Independence in 1950s, at one of the Town Hall meeting at Malacca Meng Seng Charitable Hall, a spontaneous fund raising event was carried out to raise funds for Tunku and his delegation to travel to England for negotiation with the British for independence of Malaya. Malaccans responded at once with whatever they had then. As the saying goes, the rest was history.

Some points to ponder about the inter-related world we live in today.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

HAPPY DEEPAVALI TO ALL HINDUS

As Deepavali, the Festival of Light nears and to be celebrated by all Hindus on 26th. October 2011, Tourism Melaka likes to express our Happy Deepavali greetings to all our Hindu friends from all over the world.

May the Light shine through any Darkness and lead us to a brighter future.

HAPPY DEEPAVALI

Tourism 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.

MALACCA STRAIT BRIDGE DESIGN READY

Malacca Strait Bridge Design Ready

The bridge will accommodate ship traffic by elevating its height to 76 meters.
Rabu, 12 Oktober 2011, 13:39 WIB
Hadi Suprapto
(Strait of Malacca Partners Sdn Bhd)

VIVAnews - The Riau Administration in Sumatra teams up with Malaysia to build a bridge over the Malacca Strait to Malaysia.

In the proposal submitted by a Malaysian investor, Strait Of Malacca Partners Sdn Bhd, the Malacca Strait Bridge is planned to span at 48.69 kilometers. However, due to the lack of infrastructures in Rupat Island, from which spot the bridge will be constructed, 71.2 km of new road and a new secondary bridge will be erected in Dumai, Sumatra land.

The Malacca Strait is known as the busiest commercial shipping lane in South-east Asia. Huge ships bearing thousands of tonnes of weight used to passing through the waters. For this case, the bridge will accommodate ship traffic by elevating its height to 76 meters.

As an alternative, the bridge will be combined with tunnels, which, unfortunately, can only be used by trains.

Given the bridge-tunnel combination, the construction would be started in Rupat Island

Although under-sea tunnel is possible, the briddge would allow two gateways installed at certain posts through which ships would able to move onward.
• VIVAnews

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

MELAKA BIRD PARK TO BE READY IN 20 MONTHS

Melaka to have one of the largest bird parks in Southeast Asia

2011-10-05 10:27

MELAKA, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- A bird park which will be among the largest in Southeast Asia with 6,000 birds from 300 species will be built on a 1.8 hectare site at the Botanical Garden in Ayer Keroh here.

Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said this latest tourism product in Melaka was part of the second phase of the landscape development and tourism facility project located within the 92.5 hectare Botanical Garden.

"Apart from the bird park, other projects include a watch tower, renovation of chalets and landscaping upgrade of the Botanical Garden. A fountain will also be built at the garden," he told reporters after performing the groundbreaking ceremony for RM30 million bird park here today.

He said the project was scheduled to be completed in 20 months and the bird park was expected to give the Jurung Bird Park of Singapore a stiff competition.

MELAKA BABA NYONYA ACTOR DIES OF HEART ATTACK

Wednesday October 5, 2011

66-year-old Baba Nyonya actor Chee Hood Siong dies
By MICHAEL CHEANG
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has lost one of her most beloved television icons. Chee Hood Siong, of the popular 1990s comedy Baba Nyonya, passed away on Sunday of a heart attack.

He was 66, and left behind wife Gladys Ong Keng Wah and two children.

Chee was best known for his role in TV1's Baba Nyonya, in which he dressed in drag to play Ah Chim, a Peranakan woman together with his long-time partner Kenny Chan, who played “her” best friend Bibik Kim Neo.

The series is recognised by the Malaysian Book Of Records as the longest-running TV series in the country ever, lasting from the late 80s till 2000, with 509 episodes in total.

Chan, who now owns a restaurant called King's Caf in Malacca, said that Chee would be sorely missed.

The pair of close friends had worked together in show business for more than 30 years.

“He was a very versatile actor. He could take on whatever role you gave him,” Chan said.

“We've gone through thick and thin and travelled all over the world together.”

The pair was most recently seen in the local box-office hit Nasi Lemak 2.0, directed by Namewee, in which he and Chee played a Baba and Nyonya couple who taught Namewee's Chef Huang character how to make a good nasi lemak sambal paste.

Fred Chong, producer of Nasi Lemak 2.0, said it took him and Namewee two months to convince Chee and Chan to come out of retirement and appear in their movie.

“Uncle Chee had already retired, and did not want to do the show without Kenny. We finally convinced them to do it after they learnt about the message of social unity that we wanted to convey,” said Chong.

“When they finally came on the set, they were amazing! They had so much chemistry that only about 50% of their scenes and dialogue were scripted. The rest was done impromptu!”

According to Chan, Chee was initially reluctant to take the role because he did not want to act as a woman anymore.

“I had to convince him to take the role by becoming my husband instead!” he said.

“I was glad that we took part in that movie, but I am also sad that it was to be his last movie.”

Webmaster: Baba Chee and Baba Chan have promoted Peranakan culture and cuisine in Melaka and all over the world over the years. Sad that Baba Chee has passed on but his legacy lives in all of us, Malaccans. May he find Nirvana and our condolences to the family of Baba Chee.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

MELAKA TRADITIONAL HOUSES

Opening Homes for Heritage's Sake.
By Corinne Wan ~ Web in Travel
Sunday, 2nd October 2011
When I was approached to be a judge for this year’s Melaka Tourism Awards and to choose the 'Best Tourist Attraction - Traditional House', my first question was 'What’s a traditional house? Aren’t all the houses in Malay kampungs (villages) traditional?'.

(Pictured: Kampung Padang Sebang,Photos courtesy of the writer)

The answer: "Come and see for yourself as the traditional houses in Melaka are a class of their own".

With that ringing in my head I arrived in Melaka to be immediately whisked off by my three charming minders in a four wheel to start my tour of the five houses I had to judge.

And, in the process, I discovered Melaka "hidden gems", not much publicised and oft skipped by visitors as they are not on the itinerary of the usual "must visit" attractions, such as Jonker Walk,The Stadthuys or the Malacca River Cruise.

A pity really as they are buildings of unique architecture and beauty as I found during my journey of discovery.

A typical traditional Melaka house stands on 12 to 16 main pillars (about two metres high).

Its most striking feature is the decorative flower-motif tiled steps, which also serve as the house’s main entrance. (pictured above the steps of Kampung Duyong)

The houses are very colourful. Villa Sentosa (pictured below) has a pink driveway and red tiled steps, Kampung Bukit Palah is in brilliant yellow, while the others are in various hues.

There is no entrance fee. Visitors can just wander into the house and a member of the family, who stays in the house, happily shows them around. If they wish, the visitors can make a donation, with the contributions going to the upkeep of the house.

Full story: www.webintravel.com//blog/opening-homes-for-heritages-sake_2029