Must Malacca history fiasco repeat itself?
MALACCA is making the news again, and for all the wrong reasons.
(TMI) – First, historian Ahmat Adam criticised Malacca Chief Minister Rauf Yusoh for wasting state funds on a trip abroad to verify a manuscript about the mythological character of Hang Tuah.
Then, there was the controversial appointment of Chinese actress Fan Bing Bing as the ambassador for Visit Malacca Year 2024. A mural of her was painted on a wall in iconic Jonker Street.
Did the state use funds meant for the preservation of World Heritage Sites to hire Chinese artist Ren DaChen for Fan’s mural?
The governance issues don’t end there. French historian Serge Jardin recently rebuked Tourism Malacca for factual errors in its guidebook, which he highlighted in a Facebook post.
Following Jardin’s criticism, Tourism Malacca recalled the error-ridden guidebooks but did not explain how such mistakes kept occurring.
Jardin listed numerous inaccuracies, revealing that he had already flagged these issues in 2020, but Tourism Malacca remained indifferent.
Was it laziness, ignorance, or indifference that led to these repeated mistakes?
The errors are embarrassing. The guidebook claimed European colonists invaded Malacca in the 14th century when they actually arrived in 1511 (16th century). It also stated Malacca is 750 years old, though it has existed for about 624 years. Another blunder was the assertion that the Malacca Club was built post-independence when it was actually built in 1912. Additionally, it mistakenly claimed Princess Hang Li Poh married Sultan Muzaffar Shah instead of Sultan Mansur Shah.
Jardin, who settled in Malacca in the 1980s and authored several books on Malaysia and Malacca, has earned a reputation as a historian and geographer of the state.
Same old mistakes
Tourism Malacca apologised for the mistakes, halting distribution of the guidebooks and promising a review.
“We view the matter seriously,” Tourism Malacca told a local daily, saying a show-cause letter would be issued to the publisher.
Jardin was unimpressed, pointing out that he had previously alerted Tourism Malacca to these errors in 2020 but no action was taken.
“Thank you for your reactivity. For your information, I (had) already corrected the same mistakes, on the same page, the fourth edition, dated 2020, (but) no action was taken,” Jardin responded.
Tourism Malacca has not explained why these mistakes have been repeated since 2020.
