Tuesday, April 30, 2013

MELAKA RIVER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2013

Melaka River International Festival 2013 from 25 May - 30 June 2013

Inspired by the San Antonio River Festival in USA, Melaka International River Festival 2013 is back for the whole month of June.

Among the highlights include a water sports fiesta, dragon boat competitions and decorative floats parade.

With more than 100 events prepared, this well-known state tourism event is expected to draw not less than 800,000 tourists. One of the famous event will be the Annual Melaka Dragonboat race where international teams are expected to participate.

For details, log into : www.melakariverfestival.com

Sunday, April 21, 2013

RM400 MILLION CRUISE TERMINAL IN MELAKA

Monday April 22, 2013

Malacca expects RM400mil cruise terminal and others to drive its growth By B K SIDHU bksidhu@thestar.com.my

Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Bin Mohd Rustam during the interview at Seri Bendahara, Malacca. MALACCA: The development of a RM400mil marina jetty terminal in Malacca for cruise liners is in the works, one of many projects lined up to drive the state's growth.

Malacca was eyeing RM8bil of investments this year RM3bil and RM5bil for manufacturing and services sectors, respctively, Malacca chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam told StarBiz.

He said the manufacturing sector would create 6,000 jobs this year and the services sector, 2,000.

Last year, investments into the state totalled RM5.3bil. And in 2011, RM4.3bil was secured for the manufacturing sector.

Though on average local investments had outpaced that of foreign, the converse had been true for some years now, Ali Rustam said. The state has 26 industrial parks.

He said that in the past 12 years till 2012, the state government had managed to secure RM29bil worth of investments, of which RM20.46bil was foreign.

In the last few years, gross domestic product stood at between 5% and 6%, while the unemployment rate was at 0.7% and poverty, 0.5%.

Ali Rustam said for this year, he expected RM800mil in investments from US-based Guardian Industries a global float-glass maker to set up a high-technology glass products manufacturing plant in Jasin; a RM1.8bil solar thin film plant by US-based WNK Solar; and RM500mil worth of small projects for the manufacture of electrical and electronics as well as warehousing and automation.

“The groups are in the process of getting the various approvals to invest in Malacca,” he said.

Earlier, US-based Sunpower Corp had committed to invest RM3.7bil, of which RM2.4bil had already been pumped into a solar panel plant that has started operations. This year, the company is expected to invest the balance RM1.3bil to expand operations.

“Our focus is on the K-Economy and high technology, and our manufacturing is all high-tech. We also now have investments in green and biotechnology. Our manufacturing and services sector, tourism and health tourism are strong,” Ali Rustam said.

On tourism, he said with the increasing numbers of tourists coming to Malacca every year, plans were in place to build more resorts and hotels, an underwater world and a theme park.

“We are talking to Eden Enterprises for the Seaworld/Underwater world project and with an Indonesian party for the theme park project,” Ali Rustam said.

Two new specialist hospitals in Ayer Keroh and Kelebang also have been planned. They would be developed by local companies.

On the marina jetty terminal, Ali Rustam said it would be undertaken by Kejuruteraan Asas Jaya Sdn Bhd on a 121.81ha site.

“The jetty would be built for RM100mil and the needed land would be reclaimed for RM300mil. All these are initial investments,” he said.

This development will facilitate cruise liners docking at least twice weekly at the jetty. Each liner carries about 3,000 passengers. “Even if each passenger spends RM100 a day in Malacca, the spillover business activities would be huge over time,” he noted.

Tourist arrivals in the state in 2000 was 1.6 million, and rose to 12 million in 2011. Last year, the number increased to 13 million and Ali Rustam expects a steep rise with the docking of the cruise liners.

“That is also why we need more hotels and resorts to cater to this new growth,” he said.

The jetty terminal should be completed by 2015.

Malacca also made the New York Times' list of 45 cities to be visited in the world this year. This could be attributed to its World Heritage City status granted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in 2008, a report said.

Ali Rustam has been the Chief Minister since December 1999 and has, over the years, managed to make Malacca more attractive to investors, for instance, initiating a one-stop approval centre to facilitiate investor needs and requests.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

MALACCA HIDDEN TREASURE

Email Print 06 April 2013| last updated at 11:29PM

Malacca's 'hidden treasure'

By KELLY KOH LING MIN | streets@mediaprima.com.my

FOR LOCAL TOURISTS: Walking tour celebrates city’s cultural diversity

MALACCA: NESTLED in the heart of this historical city's Jonker Street area is Harmony Street (Jalan Tukang Besi), which is a reflection of Malaysia's cultural and religious diversity.

This hidden treasure is home to some of the country's oldest places of worship for the Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus. These are the Kampung Keling Mosque, the Cheng Hoon Teng temple and the Sri Payyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple. To help today's young people, aged between 18 and 28 years, get to know these hidden treasures, a tour on foot dubbed Suci-suci Melaka is being organised.

The tour covers a total of eight places of worship, beginning with the ones at Harmony Street. Suci-suci Melaka project assistant, Lew Pik Svonn, said the project aimed to provide greater insight on such places of worship and enrich the participants with more knowledge of these different religions.

"A friend once told me that you can trace the history of cultures through places of worship. "If that is true, then Malacca town was and still is one of the most culturally diverse towns in Malaysia because there are churches, mosques, as well as Hindu, Taoist and Buddhist temples, all having co-existed for the past 200 years," she said.

"As Malaysians, we are proud to live in a multicultural society but even after centuries of co-existence, we still know so little about each other."

Lew hoped the walking tour can strengthen community relationships and understanding, as well as promote respect between people of different faiths in Malaysia through the perspective of young Malaccans. The two-and-a-half hour tour of the eight places of worship covers the history, beliefs and practices associated with these places.

Designed mainly for local tourists, Lew said the free walking tour included food, community performances and photography.

"Along the way, participants can sample free local delicacies such as Nyonya kuih and community performances by the Malacca Teo Chew Association's Chinese orchestra and a youth band from the Tamil Methodist Church," he said. "There will also be an exhibition of 200 photographs showcasing life in Harmony Street, along with a T-shirt and bag-printing station and free postcards to be given out."

The organising committee, divided into 11 youth volunteer teams, spent two months conducting research with local folks on the different places of worship.

The walking tour is on this Sunday, from 8am to 2pm. It starts from Jalan Tukang Besi behind Hard Rock Cafe in Jonker Street.

For more information, visit www.rumahibadatkita.com or http://www.facebook.com/events/450741081672823/.

Volunteers who helped organise the Suci-Suci Melaka walking tour are also members of the Projek Rumah Ibadat Kita group.

- See more at: http://www.nst.com.my/streets/central/malacca-s-hidden-treasure-1.249178#sthash.GItEkaWU.dpuf

Monday, April 8, 2013

DATARAN PAHLAWAN UNDERGOING EXPANSION WORKS IN 2013

Dataran Pahlawan at Bandar Hilir is undergoing a complete expansion works. When completed, additional shop spaces will be added and expanded.

By end of 2013, we will see a new look for Dataran Pahlawan.

MELAKA CITY DAY ON 15TH. APRIL 2013

Melaka City will celebrate her birthday on 15th. April 2013. Melaka City has come a long way and visitors are coming in droves to Melaka during the weekend. Last Saturday night, I witnessed dozens of tour buses parked along Stadthuys. Tourists from overseas and outside Melaka were visiting Melaka. It was amazing seeing so many tour buses within a small area.

Certainly, the proclaimation of Melaka and Georgetown as Heritage cities of UNESCO since 2008 has a tremendous impact on both cities. In Melaka, a large number of budget hotels, international hotels and boutique hotels have sprouted around the city to cater for visitors and tourists. Some heritage buildings are converted into hotels and you can even find a quaint lodge at Jalan Kampung Jawa. This small hotel was recommended by Tripadvisor as well.