The Making of Jonker Walk: Night Market, Pedestrian Mall or culture Street?

Abstract

Jonker Walk, located in the heart of Melaka town, is one of the latest innovations of present-day Melaka state government. Conceptually, Jonker Walk, launched by the state government on June 19,,2000, combines the historical, economic and touristic characteristics of the state. Economically, Jonker Walk provides the avenue for its participants to select aspects of their ethnicity and cultural practices and transform them into economically productive activities.Touristically, this gathering of multi-cultural and multi-ethnic people of Melaka. With these three conceptual dimensions, Jonker Walk exists on paper as a touristic culture street. But what is Jonker Walk in reality? Is it a culture street, night market, or a pedestrian mall? This question forms the underlying theme of this paper. It presents the concept and implementation of Jonker Walkfrom the perspective of its significant stakeholders, which are, the state goverment, Jonker Walk Organising Committee, Jonker Walk traders and tourists/visitors. The paper highlights several distinctive mismatches in making Jonker Walk a touristic culture street.