Melaka trishaw riders losing their way in heritage journey

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A useful example of how tourism leads to the comemrcialization of cultural heritage

"The trishaws we have now are decorated with characters from cartoons and movies and blare out Western songs. Can we say that these are truly reflective of Melaka?..."They may attract children and tourists, but over time, Melaka's heritage value will be lost."

They will have seen, even sat in, trishaws that sport characters such as Anna and Elsa from the movie Frozen and Japanese characters like Doraemon.

Popular Western songs like Let It Go from Frozen and the Doraemon theme song have replaced Malaysian traditional tunes to catch the ear of tourists.

But Mr Arshad is doing his bit to pull the brakes on such practices. His own trishaw flaunts fauna and flora designs to promote the state's heritage and he prefers to play traditional songs.

it's hard to find a traditional trishaw as many operators have commercialised their services and prefer to decorate their trishaws with designs (from) movies like Snow White

Qn: Should poorer countries develop their tourist industry when the basic needs of their own people are not being met? (Cam. 2007)