Main image via TheSmartLocal + The Sun Daily
A visit to Melaka is never complete if you don’t at least pass the iconic Stadthuys Building at Bandar Hilir.
Those familiar with the heritage location will know that the massive trees have provided shelter and shade for tourists who wait around to take pictures with the historical building.
Sadly, after 127 years, one of the beloved trees that stand besides the red building has fallen to the ground in a recent storm.
Image via TheSmartLocal
During a lighting storm that began at 6am on 17th March, the 18-meter Batai Laut tree or yellow flame tree, was uprooted and fell to the ground on its side.
Planted in 1894 during the British colonial era, the tree that measured 1.5-meters in diameter is almost as iconic as the Stadthuys that was believed to have been built by the Dutch in the 1600s.
According to Melaka Historical City Council (MBMB) Landscape Department director Moahzam Shaari, his team did not rule out the possibility that environmental factors such as heavy traffic and the surrounding development contributed to the tree’s fall.
However, the main reason that the tree fell was “due to its old roots”.
“This tree has been planted since 1894, and the passage of time has caused its roots to rot,” he said.
Image via The Sun Daily
Melaka Museum Corporation general manager, Mohd Nasruddin Rahman also shared that the yellow flame tree is a heritage one that has been gazetted under the MBMB so that it will not be felled and would be preserved for landscape purposes.
“From what happened today, we need to learn a lesson that any of these historical or heritage areas are ‘very sensitive’,” he said. “In those days, the people used horse-drawn carriages but now an assortment of vehicles traverse this area.”
“So the vibrations and loads indirectly affect the structure and strength of the trees and even buildings that are over hundreds of years old in the area,” he added. “So it is very important for us to control the flow of traffic in this historic site.”
The general manager also explained that during the British era, many of the same trees were planted and that there’s even photographic evidence that dates the fallen tree back to 1910.
“The tree (at that time) had a height of 3.6 meter and we believe it was first planted around the late 1890s,” he shared.
Image via TheSmartLocal
Moahzam, the MBMB Landscape Department director noted that his team will soon replant new trees in the heritage area to maintain the image of the Unesco (United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation) World Heritage Site.
“We will replant new trees in the near future but to get a tree that can last a long time like this one is very difficult,” he said. “We will try to think of other tree species that are suitable to be planted in this area to replace this tree.”
Image via TheSmartLocal
We’re devastated to know that we won’t be seeing this beloved tree the next time we visit Melaka!
Do you remember this iconic tree? What was your fondest memory of it? Share them with us!
Info via The Sun Daily + TheSmartLocal
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