IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Serge Jardin

Trained as a geographer and historian, Serge Jardin calls himself a memory smuggler and, for the past 30 years, a Malaysia lover.

Born in 1954 in a small village of the French countryside, he obtained his master’s degree from the University of Paris in 1977. After two years as a teacher, he began travelling extensively around the world for the next five years and encountered the tourism industry.

Arriving in Malaysia in 1986, Jardin worked as a tour leader and tourist guide. In 1988, he incorporated his own travel agency specialising in the French and ‘incentive’ market. He married a Melakan and moved to his wife’s town in 2004. They run a bed-and-breakfast in an old townhouse, The Snail House, which they restored.

Jardin has authored several books, including “Rêver Malacca”, an invitation to discover Melaka through the eyes of travellers; “Malaisie, uncertain regard”, a collaboration with Sylvie Gradeler on Malaysia, as seen through arts, crafts and literature; and “Malacca Style”, with photographer Tham Ze Hoe. 

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