MALAYSIA: A GOVERNMENT RESTORATION PROGRAMME HAS MARRED ANCIENT RUINS IN HISTORICAL MALACCA CITY

Record ID: 831876

  • Title: MALAYSIA: A GOVERNMENT RESTORATION PROGRAMME HAS MARRED ANCIENT RUINS IN HISTORICAL MALACCA CITY
  • Date: 20th May 2001
  • Summary: MALACCA, MALAYSIA (MAY 25, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (** GOOD SCENES **) MV TRISHAW GOING PAST OLD DUTCH BUILDINGS IN MALACCA CITY SV TRISHAW GV TRISHAW IN FRONT OF RUINS OF PORTUGUESE FORT WITH PAVED WALKWAY SV CANNON IN FRONT OF RUINS TILT UP ENTRANCE TO RUINS OF PORTUGUESE A FAMOSA FORT GV CANNON BESIDE FORT RUINS SV STATUE OF ST FRANCIS XAVIER, MISSIONARY WHO WAS BA
  • Embargoed: 4th June 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MALACCA, MALAYSIA
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Topics: Environment,History,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA3WMFJGZAAZAFPWCK55XVSF96X
  • Story Text: Malaysian conservationists are up in arms over a government restoration programme which they say mars ancient Portuguese ruins in historic Malacca city.
    Malaysia's ancient port city of Malacca, founded six hundred years ago by a Javanese prince, is a world-reknowned hodge-podge of old European architecture.
    The architecture reflects the various colonial powers - Portuguese, Dutch and British - that each ruled Malacca for over a hundred years each from the 16th to the mid-20th century.
    Most of the Portuguese buildings are ruins now, weathered by age and destroyed by successive colonial powers but the more recent Dutch and British buildings are in a better shape.
    Despite the historic legacy, some of the ruins are now being marred by a government restoration programme that seeks to make it tourist-friendly to attract visitors.
    Malacca attracts many tourists keen to visit what is touted as the oldest state in Malaysia which won its independence from the British in 1957.
    The programme includes building walkways around the historic A Famosa fortress entrance built by the Portuguese after they conquered Malacca in 1511.
    A church on a hill above the fort - first built in 1521 by a grateful Portuguese captain and dedicated as the Church of Our Lady - has had its original volcanic flooring ground and paved with symmetrical rows of tiles.
    The church was renovated into a two-storey building by the Jesuits led by Portuguese missionary St Francis Xavier in the 16th century.
    It was turned into St Paul's Church by the Dutch who took control of Malacca in 1641.
    Malaccan conservationists said the restoration programme has changed the character of the ruins and destroyed whatever historical value was left behind.
    They complain of the new walkways, cement plastering of the old walls and repainting of tombs without any regard to historical accuracy.
    Eurasian community elder Aloysius Robless said the government should have done thorough research before starting a restoration programme.
    "It was not like this before. We all know. The flooring was never like this. And when we come in and see, we know something is missing. The historical outlook has disappeared,"
    Aloysius Robless told Reuters.
    Some of his ancestors are buried in tombs around the church ruins.
    As part of the restoration works, the contractors have uprooted the tombstones from the church floor and laid them up against the walls which activists say is not historically accurate.
    Politician Lim Guan Eng said the Portuguese ruins have now lost their character.
    "Just for doing a million ringgit (250,000USD) project, they have changed the character, they have destroyed the historical value and I think most important, they have cost us to lose, a great sense of loss. A sense of attachment that is no longer there. And I think for that, the government has to bear the greatest responsibility," Lim Guan Eng said.
    Conservationist Josephine Chua said the authorities should be careful about restoring the place to make it tourist-friendly, as it would destroy its value.
    "By changing everything, we are making it lose its history. We should not look at colonialism as something bad for us because they have left something for us. Maybe there were some bad memories. The Japanese came, there were also bad memories. But these are things which I would consider as little scars. We got cut, we felt the pain, we have the scar.
    The scar reminds of something that happened long ago in our lives. But it no longer hurts. It has healed even though the scar is there. So we should keep everything whether it is a happy thing or sad thing to show as little footnotes of the past,." Josephine Chua said.
    Meanwhile, the workers continue the restoration - seemingly oblivious to the history they are destroying.
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