Malaysia Fun Facts: Melaka Historic City Or Malacca Historical City?

Here is another one of Malaysia fun facts: I am not sure whether is this an error which I found on the cover Melaka or Malacca tourist brochure published by Tourism Malaysia. The title “MELAKA The Historical City”.

Melaka historical or historic city confusion

I am told that Melaka is a historic city, and not Melaka is a historical city. Let’s take a quick English Lesson 101:

– “Historic” is an adjective that means something important or influential in history. (Example: historic site, historic battles, etc)

– “Historical,” is also an adjective, which refers to anything from the past, regardless whether it is important or otherwise (Example: historical novels, historical costumes, etc)

And I know this historic/historical mess is one of those commonly confused or misused words in English language; make by many all over the world.

Talking about historic/historical confusion, recently Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam announced that, starting from September 1st,2011, where all guests at hotels, resorts, chalets, apartments and lodging facilities in Malacca will have to pay a heritage tax of five per cent surcharge on the published room rate.

This announcement was reported in the NST (New Straits Times) on 28th April, 2011, and I found this line: Ali said visitors staying in the historical city should consider the surcharge as their contribution towards the conservation of the local heritage sites.

I have read that we should not call a building, site, district, or event “historical.” For instance, sites may be of historical interest if historians are interested in them, but not just because they are old.

So, is Malacca a historic city or Melaka a historical city?