Malaysia courts Chinese tourists with lavish Encore Melaka mega-theatre, unsettling locals

Decades of land reclamation have transformed Melaka’s coast, pushing the original shoreline more than 2km inland. A new mega-project promises to create over 10,000 hectares of additional land along 33km of the city’s coast – further encroaching on the delicate ecosystem and centuries-old landscape of this 14th-century port town.

For many locals like historian Edward Lee, the Encore Melaka theatre, designed by Wang Ge of China’s state-owned Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, is just another white elephant project from a China-linked company. “It caters to foreigners, mostly Chinese tourists,” the 36-year-old lamented. “For most locals, we aren’t bothered, honestly.”

In nearby Melaka Raya, the sprawling 12-story Elements Mall, also built on reclaimed land with Chinese investment, stands largely empty save for a lone cinema. The towering development looms over the historic Portuguese Settlement, home to Melaka’s unique Kristang community. “The reclamation has silted up the bay, we can’t fish any more,” community leader Martin Theseira told This Week in Asia. “And now they want to reclaim even more, build even more.”

Much of this newly-reclaimed real estate is earmarked for the ambitious Melaka Gateway project – a Chinese-backed residential and commercial development spanning four artificial islands, complete with a free-trade zone and cruise terminal. But for many locals, it’s a vision of the future that feels at odds with the city’s storied past.

Despite the ambitious scale of the project, its path has been anything but smooth. Originally slated for completion in 2025, the development was abruptly terminated in 2020 before being reinstated last year – albeit in a downsized form.

The ebbs and flows of the Melaka Gateway