Georgetown and Melaka just became Unesco world heritage sites

KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Malaysia's two oldest cities — Georgetown and Malacca — have finally been listed as World Heritage Sites after 7 years of campaigning at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), which gave the status yesterday.

Its Paris-based World Heritage Council met in Quebec, Canada and confirmed the listings which will see historical and cultural properties in both cities to be listed on the Unesco World Heritage List.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng welcomed the announcement, "This is great news for Georgetown. We have to maintain our heritage and history and the state government intends to just that."

Former Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said the success in the bid is a boost to multiculturalism and tourism for Malaysia.

Quote from the UNESCO Wolrd Heritage Centre:

Melaka and George Town, historic cities of the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia) have developed over 500 years of trading and cultural exchanges between East and West in the Straits of Malacca. The influences of Asia and Europe have endowed the towns with a specific multicultural heritage that is both tangible and intangible. With its government buildings, churches, squares and fortifications, Melaka demonstrates the early stages of this history originating in the 15th-century Malay sultanate and the Portuguese and Dutch periods beginning in the early 16th century. Featuring residential and commercial buildings, George Town represents the British era from the end of the 18th century. The two towns constitute a unique architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia.

In Georgetown, the core areas encompass the historical sites of Georgetown, including the Lebuh Acheh historical enclave and sites such as the Lebuh Acheh Malay Mosque, Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Kling Mosque, the Goddess of Mercy Temple, Sri Mariamman Temple, Khoo Kongsi, St George's Church, Assumption Church, St Xavier's Institution, Convent Light Street, Little India, the museum and court building, the commercial area of Beach Street, Fort Cornwallis, Esplanade, City Hall, the clan jetties and the port areas.

In Malacca, which was founded in the 1400s, historical sites near the St Paul's Hill, the 17th-century Dutch Stadhuys buildings, Jonker Street with its Dutch-era buildings, Jalan Tukang Besi, Kampung Morten and Malacca River have been recognised as part of the World Heritage Site.