COMMENT | Each year, the small but mighty state of Malacca secures its place among Malaysia’s most economically profitable destinations, not through vast industrial zones or high-rise financial districts, but through the enduring pull of its heritage.

Streets lined with colonial-era buildings, monuments steeped in centuries of history, and thriving tourism corridors rooted in cultural identity have placed Malacca at the heart of the nation's tourism narrative.

But this success was no accident.