Malacca Island (Malay: Pulau Melaka) is a man-made islet approximately 0.5 km off the coast of Malacca City – the capital city of the Malaysian state of Malacca, just south of its business district of Taman Melaka Raya. It is formed from the reclamation of land around an islet named Jawa Island (Malay: Pulau Jawa, not to be confused with Indonesia's Java Island and originally a tidal island) in the mid-1990s, when the Malacca State Government under then Chief Minister, Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik was planning to turn it into a "Malacca Manhattan" for business and recreational purposes.[1][2]
History
The original islet was also known as Pulo Malaca or Ilha Das Naus (Portuguese for 'Islands of the Ships') during the Portuguese era and Rood Eiland (Dutch for 'Red Island') during the Dutch era. Various historical accounts stated that the island was used as a battery by Acehnese, Portuguese and Dutch forces between the 16th and 17th century.
It became part of the RM 2 million "Twin Island City Centre" waterfront project undertaken by Pulau Kembar Sdn Bhd (formerly Inno Enhance Sdn Bhd), a defunct joint-venture of Larut Consolidated Berhad and Talam Corporation Berhad, which involved the reclamation of two islands measuring 40ha and 50ha respectively and launched in May 1996 by then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. This project was planned to comprise mixed residential and commercial development together with leisure-cum-tourism amenities such as marine theme park, marina, hotels and waterfront activities.[3][4] It was the first artificial island project and the only twin-island development project in the country. The reclamation of the first island and a 300m bridge linking to the mainland had been completed so far, but the second island was never built, with the project experienced numerous completion delays since construction began.[5][6]
Following the subsequent abandonment of its twin-island project by the original developer in the late-1990s due to Asian Financial Crisis,[7] KAJ Development Sdn Bhd intervened and revived the project under the name of Melaka Gateway in 2014. The revived project was planned to have four artificial islands with additional port and industrial zone facilities, including one planned island and this island under the original developer and one adjacent natural island – Panjang Island (Malay: Pulau Panjang).[8] However, due to a series of obstacles, the project was scaled down to only this island alone with a cruise terminal.[9]
Education
JT International School Melaka is the only school on Malacca Island. Its site was formerly an animal theme park called Wildlife Theatre Melaka. This school offers Cambridge curriculum from pre-school level until year 11.[10][11]
Arab-themed commercial development project currently on hold, with the first of three phases built on the island, but abandoned halfway through construction.
