Melaka State Tourism, Heritage, and Culture Committee chairman Datuk Muhammad Jailani Khamis has issued an apology over the Disneyland Melaka issue which has been debunked as fake news. During the signing ceremony of a Maglev train system in the state, he revealed that a new Disneyland theme park and “Disney City” would be developed in Jasin, covering an area of 150-200 acres.
Jailani clarified that the construction of the theme park was still in the planning stage and no agreements or memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been signed. He added that the signing ceremony between Metrolink Sdn Bhd and Menara Taming Sari Berhad was for the Maglev transportation system which will connect all the tourist hotspots and destinations in the state, and not an MoU for the construction of Disneyland. He said Metrolink has stated its future plans of having a Disney City in Jasin, so it’s just a plan.
As reported by NST, he said “We did not say anything about having an agreement or MoU with Disneyland in place. I can plan to build Burj Khalifa in Melaka tomorrow, but it does not mean that its owners and management will agree to such an idea.”
“I would like to apologise for the confusion. Disney has a good reputation, and maybe due to excitement in wondering if a Disneyland in Melaka could become a reality, suddenly this Disneyland idea went out of proportion”, he added.
“So once again, I apologise for the confusion over Disney City or Disneyland. That is part of the company’s plans in developing the Maglev system and if there is an opportunity, a chance for Disney to come in and open up a branch here, a mini-Disneyland,” he said.
Although Jailani had apologised, it appears that he’s shifting the responsibility to other parties despite the “Disneyland” story being reported by Melaka TV, the official media for the state. He said the confusion was not a result of the earlier announcement that he made, but instead an assumption made by other parties and quarters. At the time of writing, the original video with the title “Melaka Bakal Ada Disney City & Sistem Tren Canggih” is still available on their YouTube channel.
He explained “I apologise because many people got the wrong impression, but I am not sure that I made a mistake. The company informed us of its intentions and plans to bring Disney here to Melaka. The speculation made was as though there was already an agreement in place. Is it wrong for me to plan ahead?”
Following the news of ASEAN’s first Disneyland will be built in Malaysia last Wednesday, a Disney representative told a CNN journalist that the news was fake and purely speculative. Although she deleted her initial tweet on orders from Disney, she maintains her reporting still stands that there are no official plans for a Disney-themed park in Melaka and earlier reports were purely speculative and misinformed.
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