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1994
Malaysia South East Asia
Bec2004-09-20 18:13:32
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Melaka
Of the three cities I visited, by far I preferred historic Melaka that gave its name to the "Malaca" Strait between Malaysia and Indonesian Sumatra. These boats, tied up in the Melaka trade with Indonesia or forty kilometres away.
The natural advantage of being located at the narrowest part of the Strait made the mouth of the Melaka River an ideal site for trade with Sumatra. Indeed there was already a trading post here when the famous Chinese navigator Cheng Ho established relations for the Ming dynasty in 1405.
The first European settlers were the Portuguese who arrived in 1511 and built the fortress A'Famosa of which only this Gate remains.
Then, the Dutch took the city in 1641 after an eight month siege. When the French occupied Holland in 1795, the British "temporarily" took over the administration of the Dutch colonies and Melaka was ceded to them definitely in 1824.
The Melaka Kingdom accepted Islam as early as the 14th century so the ancestors of these girls were already Muslim when the Catholic Portuguese and then the Protestant Dutch took over and built churches like the one in the background.
Malaysia is a confederation of 13 states ruled by Sultans one of which is "elected" to become the temporary King of the country every five years. These houses near the palace of the Sultan of Melaka can give you an idea of the lifestyle enjoyed by the Sultan's noble entourage.
Being a mere commoner of proletarian means, I stayed in the cheap Chong Hoe Chinese Hotel where I slept as soundly as the Sultan himself for only 8.80$.
As elsewhere in Malaysia there was a wide variety of places of worship. This Hindu Temple was right across the street from my hotel.
Copyright Bernard Cloutier
All rights reserved.
Please visit my website
See photographs from:
Malaysia Gallery
