Don’t slay the golden goose

Melaka’s growing tourism industry may lose its heritage and uniqueness if the state keeps adding high-density commercial projects indiscriminately.

DURING a recent trip back to Melaka, one unbelievable story about a gander laying a clutch of eggs created quite a buzz among locals and tourists.

According to news reports, both the gander named Jeep and its female mate Rose brooded their own batch of eggs, the former under a serai wangi (citronella grass) clump and the latter in a regular coop.

Did the eggs eventually hatch? Was the gander a “closet goose” that returned to its original gender? No one seems to know because there were no follow-up stories to the original reports.

But in keeping to geese as the subject of discussion, a more apt story relating to Melaka is one of Aesop’s fables – the goose that laid the golden eggs.

It is about greed and losing something priceless in the pursuit of quick gains.

The fable can be traced to its Eastern roots such as Suvannahamsa Jataka in Vinaya, the Buddhist book of monastic discipline.

In that tale, the breadwinner of a poor family is reborn as a swan with golden feathers. His family is supposed to pluck a single feather and sell it for their livelihood each time he returns.

After a while, the greedy widow decides to cash in on the golden plumage by pulling out all the feathers but instead of gold, each plume turns ordinary and worthless.

The Hindu epic Mahabharata has a similar story of a bird that spits out gold. Driven by greed, the man who finds the bird ends up strangling it.

These allegories are germane to Melaka as it seems to be moving towards the shortsighted neglect of treasured resources that make it attractive – history, culture and heritage.

The country’s top tourism destination recorded an impressive 17 million arrivals last year, comprising 11.3 million (66.6%) locals and 5.68 million (33.4%) foreigners, mostly from China, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

But behind the success is growing concern over the direction of the industry, especially among those who have been there since the nascent days when Melaka arose from being a “sleepy hollow”.

Many of their worries were highlighted during a dialogue with Chief Minister Adly Zahari last week organised by Madelina Kuah, head of the Melaka Tourism Association.

Except for Adly’s principal private secretary, there were no other government officials present.

Although I was there as a guest and not directly involved in the industry, I was also asked to give my views.

For three hours, Adly listened attentively to those present, taking down notes and seeking clarification wherever needed as the participants raised matters ranging from traffic jams, the need for multilevel car parks, cleanliness, more toilets and greenery to the shortcomings of the famed river cruise and the gaudy, noisy trishaws.

A major snag raised was the hour-long crawl from the NorthSouth Expressway’s Ayer Keroh exit on weekends and public holidays.

The Chief Minister was told that this could be eased through better utilisation of the two other gateways into the state – the Simpang Ampat/Alor Gajah toll plaza in the north and the Lipat Kajang/Jasin toll plaza in the south.

Better signage directing traffic to link roads such as the Lebuh Alor Gajah-Melaka Tengah-Jasin could help visitors get to their destinations earlier, saving time and fuel.

As for Jonker Walk, the historic city’s foremost attraction, security and safety were among the main anxieties. Snatch thefts are recurrent, while the crowded and stalllined street is a fire hazard and potential death trap. There are no first aid stations or ambulances on standby for emergencies.

The choked heritage zone has a wide array of cafes and stalls selling food, but does not have enough toilets for the huge numbers of people who throng there. The poor conditions of the existing few damage Melaka’s image as a tourist hub.

With few trees in the area, maybe the greenery could be enhanced through potted plants but as one person complained, the Melaka Historic City Council has been penalising those who grow plants near their premises as “obstructions” on walkways.

Skyrocketing rentals of shophouses in the core heritage zone was another sore point raised. Landlords who used to charge less than RM800 per month a decade ago are now demanding between RM3,000 and RM4,000.

This has forced out the craftsmen and metalsmiths, the very people behind Melaka’s recognition as a Unesco World Heritage site. Their shops have been turned into the ever increasing number of budget hotels.

A key message derived from the dialogue was the danger of disregarding Melaka’s heritage and conservation at the expense of maximising profit and density of commercial projects.

The aesthetic value of historically significant spots, for example, have been blemished by tacky plastic signs like “I love Melaka” or LED advertising boards.

For cultural preservation, the dialogue participants urged more efforts to promote the uniqueness of Melaka, especially its minority communities of Baba Nyonya, Melaka Chitty and Melaka Portuguese in the heritage zone.

Many of those who spoke urged the state government to close the heritage zone to all motorised traffic as buildings along the narrow roads are already suffering physical damage. Electric vehicles and shuttle vans were suggested as alternate forms of transport.

The biggest peeve of almost everyone at the dialogue were the city’s trishaw riders and their garishly festooned vehicles, blasting music at 120 decibel levels.

The trishaws featuring cartoon characters like Hello Kitty or Marvel superheroes and raucous techno music or Korean pop songs are a major source of irritation and noise pollution.

The state needs to regulate this and other emerging fake identities of tourism appeal or risk getting its golden goose cooked.