Features
CONCLUSION
The paper has discussed the ‘thorny path’ to World Heritage Listing based on the authors’ experience in Melaka over the past three years. Amidst the rhetoric about the suitability of Melaka for listing, many forgot that prior to the State government’s announcement, the old quarter was like a slum, suffering from serious building obsolesces and overall decay. This was due to the decades of neglect caused by the Rent Control Act which stifled economic regeneration. Currently, the old quarter is experiencing gentrification which has its good and bad points, and thus require careful management. Melaka may or may not get inscribed into the World Heritage List in the near future. If it does, it will take its rightful place as the site where globalisation begun and where racial tolerance and multi-culturalism exist not only in terms of symbols of the past but also in contemporary life. If the listing is deferred, Melaka will not be hurt economically given that more than 3 million tourists visit Melaka even without the listing. More importantly, the quest for World Heritage Listing has brought the aspatial communities in Melaka together on a long but fruitful journey in rediscovering their heritage.
Biodata :
AMRAN HAMZAH is an Associate Professor of the Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor. Besides running the M.Sc. Tourism Planning programme for the past 8 years, he is also actively involved in research and consultancy in the field of tourism planning. His areas of specialisation are heritage tourism, rural tourism, Pro Poor Tourism and sustainable tourism, having been involved in consultancy commissioned by UNESCO, JICA, the Ministry of Tourism, etc. His current assignment is to refine the dossier for Melaka and Penang’s serial nomination into the World Heritage List, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage. In his spare time, he likes to stay at home reading a book or watching several movies in a row on DVD and particularly avoids beaches, shopping malls and ecotourism sites. He can be contacted at tprg_fab@yahoo.com or merang@mel.utm. ROSLI HJ. NOOR is a conservation architect by training. After spending several adrenalin pumping years working for the Melaka Museums Corporation (PERZIM) and later Majlis Bandaraya Melaka Bersejarah (MBMB), he is currently Principal Assistant Secretary at the Jabatan Warisan Negara (Kementerian Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan). Within the conservation circle, Rosli is acknowledged as the sole person responsible for carrying out conservation programmes/projects as well as raising awareness on conservation matters in Melaka Historic City. In his spare time, he likes to travel but only to South-East Asian destinations with similar cultural ties. He can be contacted at roslinor@heritage.gov.my.
References :
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