Heritage Georgetown & Melaka 乔治市和马六甲

Melaka & George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca, were inscribed by UNESCO as a world heritage site on 08 July 2008, along with 18 other cultural sites and 8 natural sites. Does the way they are inscribed mean the 2 cities were awarded the status as one entity, even though they are more than 500 km apart?

In the brief description awarding the status, the World Heritage Committee mentioned the over 500 years of influence by Asians and Europeans to give them the "specific tangible and intangible multi-cultural heritage".

Penang Char Koew Teow (fried rice noodle with clams, prawns & egg)

To qualify for inscription, the site must meet at least one of the 10 selection criteria (6 for cultural sites, 4 for natural sites) as enunciated by the World Heritage Committee.

Melaka & Penang meet the cultural site listing criteria No. (ii), (iii) & (iv).

I quote below these 3 criteria (from the UNESCO website)
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(ii) to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;

(iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;

(iv) to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
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For more details , please visit selection criteria

Tangible influence by the Asians and Europeans on these 2 cities, are expressed in many ways. Two of these are their architecture, and their culinary delights

Heritage Geogetown, Penang

This consists of two zones: the Core Zone and Buffer Zone. Within the Core Zone, there are 1,715 no. of historical buildings, and 1,928 no. in the Buffer Zone. These buildings take on characteristics of cultures of the various races living in Georgetown, some of them over a few centuries.

(to be continued)