Drs. Mohd. Nasruddin Bin Rahman Welcoming Speech for ICHF 2019

14 November 2019

The Pines Hotel

Melaka

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarahkatuh

A very good morning to everyone.

Selamat Datang and Welcome to Historic City of Melaka.

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Kamarul Bahrin Bin A. Kasim

Director General, Department of Museums Malaysia

Yang Berbahagia Prof. (ADJ) Datuk Dr Hj Mohd Jamil Bin Mukmin

Vice Chairman, Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam

Yang Berusaha Dr. Tan Ta Sen

President International Zheng He Society (Singapore)

Yang Berusaha Prof. Dr. Choirul Mahfud

Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, Indonesia

Ladies and Gentlemen

First of all, it is indeed a pleasure to be here and I would like to welcome all the paperwork presenters and the delegates from within and outside the country which involves a combination of countries under IMT-GT (Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand). Thank you for being here to attend this seminar to commemorate the 614 th Anniversary of Zheng He’s historic maiden voyage to the Western Ocean and the 11 the Anniversary of Melaka’s status as a World Heritage City.

Hopefully, the organization of this festival will not only diversify the references and resourceful sources between Melaka and China but also strengthen the established diplomatic relations under the collaboration of IMT-GT countries.

This seminar will bring forth both academic and practical discourses on the potential and opportunities of this important historic figure in different areas of interest particularly in tourism which involves these three countries.

We will also have heritage trail and treasure hunt on our last day to expose and promote the trails and the impacts on the arrival of Admiral Cheng Ho in the history of Melaka.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The objectives of organizing the seminar are:

1 To present and share the different views and evidences of historical relics on the relationship between Melaka and the archipelago as an empire along with the Chinese government once upon a time.

2 To determine the heritage route of Admiral Cheng Ho trade and diplomatic relations established with the Melaka government through a variety of programs covering the area of economic, cultural and social.

3 To share different views on the cultural assimilation flow which has become a unique heritage legacy around the world.

4 To develop and establish heritage trail packages based on Admiral Cheng Ho history and legacy for the purpose of Heritage Tourism Development in related nations.

Therefore, all speakers and participants will have productive discussions, explore and share knowledge among us here, so we can gain new information and come out with a resolution from this conference.

Finally, and once again, I welcome all to Malaysia and Melaka for the Visit Malaysia Year 2020.

I hope all the participants could take the opportunity to visit the museums managed by us. For your information, we have built up to 24 museums and 10 galleries. Please spend your time and it’s an honour for us for having you.

Thank you.