Wednesday, August 30, 2017

HAPPY 60TH MERDEKA AND NATIONAL DAY, MALAYSIA 2017

Our best wishes to all Malaysians on our 60th. Merdeka Anniversary and National Day.


Sunday, August 6, 2017

OFO CHINESE BIKE RENTAL COMPANY NOW IN MELAKA

Ofo enters Malaysia after launching trial service in Melaka

Chinese bike-sharing company ofo has entered Malaysia after launching a trial phase of its service in Melaka.
From 20 August, the company will have placed 500 bikes in the city centre and users will only have to pay US$0.23 per hour to rent the bike, without putting up a deposit. 1500 more bikes will be introduced into the city at the end of the month.
Malaysia will be seventh country ofo will operate in and they will be the second bike-sharing operator in the country after Singapore-based Obike launched in Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding areas in April.
Last month, ofo announced that it had partnered with payments platform companyAdyen to allow customers around the world to pay using their preferred local currencies and payment methods.

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

MELAKA PAST JAPANESE VILLAGE

Tuesday, 1 August 2017

Melaka village’s Japanese past attracting interest

image: http://www.thestar.com.my/~/media/online/2017/07/31/18/58/main_gj_010817_pg03c_geraldine_1.ashx/?w=620&h=413&crop=1&hash=6F246CDB8C678E3C503626F0A21B4ADEE3BC69DB
Local history: The land in Tajung Keling that is being used by the Prisons Department is believed to have been a hub for the Japanese navy during the occupation. It is also said to be the site where the bodies of Japanese soldiers and artefacts are buried.
Local history: The land in Tajung Keling that is being used by the Prisons Department is believed to have been a hub for the Japanese navy during the occupation. It is also said to be the site where the bodies of Japanese soldiers and artefacts are buried.
 
MELAKA: A village about 15km from the city is attracting interest as it is said to be the site of an old Japanese burial ground.
Elderly folk in Kampung Kelongkong, Tanjung Keling, recall that the area, which overlooks the Strait of Malacca, was “active” during the Japanese occupation of Malaya in the early 1940s.
Even some curious Japanese have been coming here to “dig” for information about the past.
A Japanese tourist who wished to be known only as Abe said he read that Tanjung Keling had once served as a hub for the Japanese navy.
“A small graveyard and wells are believed to be at the site.
“I saw photographs of the Japanese occupation in Malaya in a book, and Tanjung Keling was mentioned in it. But there was not much detail on the exact location,” said Abe, when met in a coffeeshop here.
The Star visited the site last week and interviewed several people there who recalled the Japanese occupation era.
Gan Boon Seng, 72, a Chinese Peranakan, said his late father served as a cook for high-ranking Japanese army officers based in Tanjung Keling.
“He told me that the Japanese navy used the area as a sort of control hub. I believe there is also a graveyard where the bodies of Japanese soldiers are buried,” he said.
Gan said he was informed that the Prisons Department was using the area for rehabilitation purposes. Villager Daud Omar, 71, said the site used to house a nursing college before the Prisons Department took over.
“Most of us are scared to go there after dark as we believe it is haunted,” he said.
Omar said his late father told him that the Japanese army had also buried some relics at the site after their defeat in 1945.
“My father worked with the Japanese and was one of those who had the privilege of eating rice, instead of tapioca,” he said.
Melaka Museum Authority manager Datuk Khamis Abas said the body was willing to work with historians and the Institute of Historical and Patriotism Studies of Malaysia to find out details about the area’s past.
“There are several spots in Malacca with Japanese involvement. On Tanjung Keling, we have yet to ascertain anything. My men will be interviewing the local people,” he added.
The only known Japanese cemetery is in Bukit Baru, which was discovered in 1969 by a villager.
Details engraved on tombstones reveal that the site has existed since 1910.
Little was known about the early Japanese community in Melaka until the small cemetery was discovered.

Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/08/01/melaka-villages-japanese-past-attracting-interest/#Fo1lRxpmo6qKdijI.99