Malacca to continue luring tourists and refurbishing existing facilities

Malacca to continue luring tourists and refurbishing existing facilities

Twenty-ten has been a year where the historic state of Malacca lived up to its reputation for creating history with some cherishable moments.

On the upside, the state marked several occasions that were worthy to make it into the record books.

We played host to the Sukma XIII bi-annual games in June at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Krubong.

Some 6,500 athletes and several thousand officials gathered here from all over the country for the games which launched with much pomp and circumstance.

Though spectator turnout was not as enthusiastic, the games produced several new records and the setting up of the Malacca Sports Institute.

On a side note, local lass and wushu exponent Chai Fong Ying did the state and country proud when she became the first athlete to bag a gold for Malaysia at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China recently.

Then, there was the novel but controversial idea of setting up the country’s first school for pregnant teens in Jasin by the state via the Malacca Islamic Religious Council.

The school was to house and provide care and education for pregnant teens, married or otherwise.This resulted in much debate prior to its opening on Sept 17.

However, the decision to set up the school was justified when 10 teens stepped forward to enrol with the hope of delivering their babies while continuing their studies.

Since October, several of the students had successfully delivered their babies and also managed to patch things up with their families.

The crowning moment for Malacca came on 20.10.2010 at 2010hrs when it was declared a developed state by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

It was the achievement of a decade of planning and hard work by all.

Although having achieved and surpassed the yardstick used by Paris-based Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation to gauge the developed status of a state, there were some quarters here who pointed out the declaration was a self proclamation by the state.

The year started off with the debacle involving the ‘Eye On Malaysia’ at Taman Kota Laksamana next to the Malacca River. The year began on the wrong turn for the 62-meter high ferris wheel on Jan 7 when it became entangled in legal tussle.

The ferris remained idle and in a limbo for almost 10 months before it was finally dismantle by its Belgian owners on Oct 1 and carted off.

Another unfortunate incident involved the city’s RM15.9mil monorail line developed as a tourist attraction to complement the rehabilitated and beautified Malacca River.

Barely two months after its grand launch, the monorail grounded to a halt.

The China-made monorail line, spanning 1.6km along the river, ran in to technical and mechanical problems, causing much embarrassment to the operators.

Nevertheless, Malacca can take pride as being the nation’s top tourist destination with over eight million visitors for 2010.

This status has brought much economic benefit to the state and is set to grow over the coming years.

To cement this success, the state needs to get the recently extended and refurbished RM190mil Melaka International Airport fully utilised.

At present, the airport is managing flights to Sumatra and the occasion chartered flights.

It is likely the top New Year’s resolution for the state is to prove to the Federal Government the airport would not end up becoming a white elephant in 2011.

-News courtesy of The Star-