Has anyone visited Malacca lately?

As a Malacca-born visitor last weekend, I've been astonished by a number of things that didn't just call attention to themselves, they practically challenged you not to barf in response.

For starters, the historic site of 'A Famosa' where the equally historic esplanade called Padang Pahlawan used to lay intranquil green, has now been all but hidden from view when you pass by the Mahkota Parade main road.

And what is obscuring that view? Exquisite zinc sheets that make up a perimeter wall surrounding a mosquito-infested pond consisting of abandoned concrete and steel beams!

According to folklore, the beautiful padang had to make way in the eighties for a light and sound spectacular ampitheatre. Now that that's proven to be a spectacular flop, construction began a few years back on yet another supposed monument, only to be abandoned to our dengue-spreading insect inhabitants for god-knows what reason.

For a state that draws much of its income from tourism, the Malacca government sure knows how to create jaw-dropping sights.

Then there's the Malacca town buses. Zipping and zapping around town, they invariably leave trails of black smog behind for all and sundry to choke on.

I remember growing up in Malacca in the seventies and eighties, choking on them carbon monoxide-rich smog wherever I cycled. Seems to me you have to hand it to the authorities. If nothing else, they know how to preserve your childhood memories.

Come nightfall, the once tranquil and scenic Jalan Bandar Hilir has now been impregnated with unsightly hawker stalls on both sides of the road. To compound this ghastly sight, vehicles are parked indiscriminately on the road in spite of the yellow lines, causing traffic jams especially on weekends and public holidays.

And talking about the unsightly, just take a drive along Jalan Ujong Pasir. Cheap and vulgar-looking apartment blocks have been erected right next to wooden shacks, (more) hawker centres and houses.

Hasn't anyone in the state government heard of town-planning? Or is this just a twisted attempt at trying to force the town's ghastliness into a Shocking Asia episode, thereby creating history once again?

And oh, don't forget how the authorities continue to blare its beloved town as a "historical city" rather than an historic one. Well, if there's anything one can learn from Malacca now as far as History as a discipline is concerned, it's what-not-to-do with your quaint city if you don't intend to lose your tourist dollars.

This in itself should spring some hope for tour operators: start ferrying in officials of local councils and townships from the rest of the world for a look at Malacca — The ugly and the ghastly.