MELAKA (July 22): In February 2001, some eight months after the Jonker Walk night market was launched in the heart of Melaka's sensitive heritage precinct, a Unesco monitoring mission that was visiting the city expressed alarm at what it saw.
The narrow Jonker Street, which housed local communities and traditional trades for centuries, had become a garish sight that clashed with the original charm of the place – suffering from congestion and threatened by the bustle of outlandish touristy stalls.
"Banners, overhead street signs, additional street lights and other visual clutter detract from the authentic historical character of the area," Unesco expert Elizabeth Vines had said in an interview with the New Straits Times.
"The influx of stalls lining the street will result in the displacement of traditional activities," she warned.
Vines' words echoed the anxiety that many local heritage conservationists, residents and traders had voiced against the plan the year before.
But despite their fervent appeals, the state government went ahead, allowing scores of stalls mostly run by people from outside the area to take over the street and later some other connecting thoroughfares.
Among the parties that had vociferously protested the setting up of Jonker Walk then, in the interest of heritage protection and the local residents, was the DAP.
It was therefore rather ironic that the same party began criticising the Melaka government last month for reportedly planning to close down the pedestrian market.
DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said he had the copy of a circular for the Jonker Walk area to be opened to traffic. The circular stated that the hawkers would no longer be allowed to set up stalls there, he added.
Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Idris Haron later claimed that the road would be opened to vehicles for four weeks to study the traffic flow, and this was misconstrued as wanting to close the market.
The DAP has argued that the situation has changed since 2000, meriting it to stand up for the mostly Chinese traders who operate in Jonker Walk.
Loss of original local folks
However, forgotten amid this heated controversy, that has become quite political and communal, is the severe impact of the project on the inner-city's precious heritage.
Local activist Josephine Chua, who grew up in Heeren Street in the area, has seen first-hand the damage done by the Jonker Walk 13-years on.
Based on her observation, more than 90% of the original residents of Jonker Street have left since 2008 when Melaka was listed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site.
"When we wanted to get the Unesco listing, one of the things we wanted to stop was Jonker Walk," she recounted. "We were fighting this thing."
"Because Jonker Walk became popular, more and more tourists came. The traditional tenants residing here quit, and got new homes outside."
The authorities may have succeeded in making the place a bigger tourist attraction. "But they have failed to bring people to appreciate what is on the site," Chua stresses.
Lost amid the hubbub to rake in the tourist dollar and make the place more colourful was the idea to help revitalise and maintain as much of the local community as possible.
No consultation and a fire hazard
Perhaps nothing may be as symbolic of this arguable intrusion as the bizarre statue of local MCA bigwig Datuk Wira Gan Boon Leong – a former champion bodybuilder and founder of the Jonker Walk initiative – recently installed in a public square along Jonker Street.
The huge bulging figurine stands out, but it has been questioned for its relevance to the heritage character of the area.
For architect Tiong Kian Boon, a member of the Melaka World Heritage Site technical review panel, what makes the locals here upset is that projects like these have been put in place without their consultation.
"There was no consultation. The stakeholders were angry," he said in an interview with FZ.com.
"The primary stakeholders were the people who lived and worked there, whose shops were downstairs while they lived upstairs."
"People who have businesses in their shop houses cannot operate properly. The stalls are exactly in front," he says.
"On Friday and Saturday nights, I cannot even park my car in front of my own house. Never mind that: I can't even drive to my house!" he says, describing the grievances of the locals.
Tiong describes the immensely crowded Jonker Walk area as a potential disaster zone with safety being grossly overlooked.
"Jonker Street is a disaster waiting to happen. Ask any fireman in town. If they are given the freedom to speak they will say that."
"What happens if there is a fire? The houses along Jonker Street, Temple Street and Goldsmith Street have no back lanes!" he laments.
"Questions like this are being asked, and there is no consultation. They just pushed it through."
"There are several sites in Melaka that are suitable for night markets, within walking distance," he says. "Don't keep it so dense in Jonker street."
Tiong suggests that with the controversy over the alleged closing of the market, all the parties should take the opportunity to re-examine how the project and others like it are implemented.
With its authentic living culture sapped away, and hundreds of new businesses and people that have no relevance to the history of the place inundating the site, there needs to be a serious appraisal of what exactly has happened.
Perhaps then saner minds will prevail, and we can see how far this project has impacted not just the tourism dollar and the economy, but the very human values for which the city had striven to attain the Unesco status in the first place.