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In 1957, a decade after Indian
Independence was gained; Malaysia’s
first prime minister stepped up to a
podium in Melaka’s Padang Pahlawan
and declared his country free from
British rule. Tuanku Abdul Rahman
could not have chosen a more
appropriate place in all of Malaysia
for this defining moment in its
history. For, of all the glittering
ports of the East that have been
shaped by a multiplicity of
cultures, there is none that holds
as spicy a melting pot as dose
Melaka. |
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This is because Melaka enjoys an
unrivalled location on South-East
Asia’s seas-exactly halfway between
India and China. From here it
commanded, and continues to command,
Asia’s most vital sea routes. Quick
to recognize the opportunities this
shelter afforded were the Europeans.
In 1511, the first Portuguese
galleon appeared off the cost of
Melaka. An unceasing succession of
Portuguese, British and Dutch
colonial rulers lorded over the
colony from that year on till a
sunny morning on Padang Pahlawan
when Malaysia’s bravest son chased
the last of the great white sharks
out of Malaysia’s waters and Melaka
came home again.
That’s why they say Melaka is ‘Where
It All Began’. But it began even
before the Europeans discovered it.
Since the city’s founding by the
exiled Sumatran prince Parameswara
in 1400, it seems that some part of
chapter of Malaysia’s diverse and
complex history was written here.
The Sultanate of Melaka was soon
visited by the Chinese, who came by
for a neighborly cup of tea and
trade. Chinese immigrants followed
in large numbers, mixing with Indian
and Arab traders and the local
Muslims, peacefully building one of
the world’s first multiracial
kingdoms well before the Europeans
came calling.
The flux of centuries has left
behind a charming city of low roofs,
dotted with historic monuments, and
some of Dutch architecture in Asia.
These sit check by jowl with
Malaysia… and a maze of streets that
make this crazy juxtaposition of
Dutch, Portuguese, English, Islamic
and Chinese influences feel somehow
oh-so-normal. |
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