Renaming St Paul's Hill requires feedback from stakeholders, says Melaka CM

The St. Paul's Hill Complex. - filepic

MELAKA: Changing the name of historic St Paul's Hill to Bukit Melaka needs feedback from various stakeholders, says Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Sulaiman Md Ali.

He said on Friday (July 17) that the proposal to change the name should be examined meticulously by historians, adding that making any drastic changes to sites with historical importance needs sincere discussions and views from various parties

Sulaiman was commenting on the proposal by the Melaka Museum Corporation (Perzim) to have St Paul's Hill renamed as Bukit Melaka.

Earlier, Save The Portuguese Action Committee chairman Martin Theseira said that efforts should be first made to unearth the remnants of the palace of the Melaka Sultanate before changing the names of any historical sites.

Theseira said the remnants or any relics relating to the Sultanate are crucial to back any proposals to change names of heritage sites in the historic city.

He added that any move to change the identities of historical sites should be incorporated with solid historical facts.

"We can use technology like high-tech scanners to recover these relics if the items are buried underneath the earth. As a Melakan myself, I support any attempts to recover the remnants of the palace or artefacts linked to the Sultanate," he said.

Theseira said the remnants of such relics are also a boost for local tourism as people would be interested to see such items, adding that recovering the relics would also back the proposal by Perzim to change the name of St Paul's Hill to Bukit Melaka.