Activist: Don’t change name of historical site based on anecdotes

MELAKA: Efforts must be made to unearth the remnants of the Melaka Sultanate on St Paul’s Hill or historical sites before changing their names, says an activist from the Portuguese community.

Save The Portuguese Action Committee chairman Martin Theseira said remnants or relics relating to the Sultanate were crucial to strengthen any proposal to change the names of heritage sites in the historic city.

“We can opt for technology like high-tech scanners to recover these relics if the items are buried underneath the earth.

“As a Melakan myself, I really would like to support any attempt to recover the remnants of the palace or artefacts linked to the Sultanate even if we have to comb the seabed, ” he said in an interview here on Friday.

Theseira was responding to a proposal by the Melaka Museum Corporation (Perzim) to change the name of St Paul’s Hill to Bukit Melaka.

“Any move to change the identity of historical sites should be based on solid historical facts.

“I guess Melakans would have no qualms if the proposal to change the name is supported by historic documents and not based on anecdotes, ” he said.

Theseira said from facts he had garnered, the site was known as “Malacca Hill” as only a point of reference by the Portuguese in the 1500s.

He said Melaka elders had shared the stories of the Sultan’s palace at the foothills of St Paul and the garden stretched to a hockey field that no longer exists at Bandar Hilir.

“We need to locate the remnants before pursuing any attempt to make changes, ” he said.

For instance, Theseira said, the name Strait of Malacca was known since time immemorial and its history was well documented.

“I urge Perzim to initiate an in-depth research on heritage sites together with reputed historians as well as Unesco researchers on St Paul’s Hill, ” he said.