We took a bus down the peninsula in the morning and were in Malacca by noon. We wandered around the city center, which was made a UNESCO site in 2008, and walked through yet another Chinatown, stopping for lunch at Cafe1511, where we had some great local Nyonya-style food and admired their indoor pond.
From there we kept walking through the city center, passing the main city square built by the Dutch as well as a replica of a long-destroyed city wall. We also saw a replica of a water wheel, which included a plaque saying something like, "its constant movement represents the dynamism and progress of Malacca and Malaysia." Of course, the Law of Irony necessitated that it was stopped. We walked along the harbor and saw a replica of a Portuguese galleon, which is now Malacca's maritime museum. You might have noticed how many times the word "replica" is used in this paragraph; that's because about half of Malacca has been rebuilt in the last few years, and parts of the city definitely have a Disneyland feel to them. That being said, Malacca is incredibly pleasant and interesting, and certainly the highlight of our trip to Malaysia.
Next MP and I wanted to see the Straits of Malacca themselves, so on we walked. We arrived at the beach, and decided to go to the end of a long, two-story covered pier run by the Holiday Inn that would give us a great view of the waters. Although the pictures didn't do a great job capturing it, the waters are a beautiful clear blue and from the pier you can see the straits along with several of the small islands around them. On our walk back down the pier, we passed what we initially thought was some kind of dance club, which was one of the few things open mid-day on the pier. Upon closer inspection, it was a "gamer bar", where dozens of Malaysian nerds come to play violent video games on enormous screens and generally avoid sunlight.
Having seen Malacca's raison d'etre (the straits, not the nerdbar), we made our way back to the town center to see the other sights. We quickly arrived at what I was most looking forward to -- the ruins of A Famosa, the Portuguese fort built in the immediate aftermath of the Malacca Sultanate's defeat. Unfortunately, most of the fort was destroyed when the British took control of Malacca, since they didn't want to leave such a fortification in place, fearing that it might one day be used against them by another army or local resistance. Still, one of its gates remains, and the beautiful red stone is one of Malacca's iconic monuments.
After touring around the ruins, we went to the Malacca Sultanate Palace Museum, which is housed in an enormous replica of the Malacca Sultans' palace (as you might have guessed). Much of the museum was dedicated to the arts, crafts, tools, and general history of the Sultanate and its peoples, but there were a few especially interesting or funny exhibits. One involved the story of Hang Tuah, a Malay hero, told through a variety of corny dioramas. Hang Tuah was a warrior during the time of Sultan Mansur Shah and is still the most important and written-about hero in Malaysian literature. He was famous for his loyalty to the sultan, who at one point ordered him killed based on a rumor. He was hidden away by an ally at the court, and his best friend, Hang Jebat, believing him dead, went on a rampage through the sultan's palace. Knowing that only Hang Tuah could have killed Hang Jebat and stopped the rampage, the sultan lamented his decision to kill him. At that point Hang Tuah's allies tell the king that he isn't dead after all, and he is summoned, pardoned, and then, in an ultimate act of loyalty to the sultan, duels and kills his best friend, who was only trying to avenge what he thought was Hang Tuah's own wrongful execution. A lovely story of pointless death and betrayal, turned into a parable of loyalty.
A few other highlights of the museum. First, apparently the first sultan decided to build Malacca where he did because while he was hunting a deermouse and his hunting dogs had it cornered, the deermouse kicked one of the dogs and pushed it into the river. This was considered an unusual and auspicious sign, necessitating the founding of a new capital city. See below for the diorama showing this event. Also, we saw a complete diorama replica of the throne room, including the formal protocol arrangements where all of the important functionaries sat or stood, helping us understand the Sultanate's really intricate and interesting political system. And last, the Forbidden Garden, below.
From there we climbed a hill near A Famosa to see the ruins of St. Paul's church, which among other things was the first resting place of St. Francis Xavier before his "miraculously preserved" body was moved to the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, India -- where, randomly, I had seen it a month before.
After that we descended the hill and saw the Stadthuys, an old Dutch building, literally "Town Hall", in Malacca's central Red Square. The almost 400-year-old building is massive and has served many functions over its history. Also in the square, built by the Dutch, was Christ Church Malacca, the oldest operating church in the city. The trademark red-pink color of all the buildings in the square is one of Malacca's iconic sights.
By this point we'd seen most of what Malacca had to offer, so we decided to start heading back towards the bus station, stopping by a few of the city's temples on the way. First up was Masjid Kampung Kling, built in 1748 and an architecturally fascinating mosque mixing many styles together. It includes Corinthian columns and an arcaded veranda, a Chinese pagoda-inspired minaret, and a typically Malaysian square (rather than rectangular or hexagonal) layout along with its triple-tiered hipped roof.
Next was Cheng Hoon Teng, a Taoist temple in Chinatown and the oldest temple in the city, where we got to see a ceremony in progress. The temple is magnificent: highly ornate and covered with carvings, paintings, and sculptures, it's also laid out according to the principles of Feng Shui.
From there we saw Kampung Hulu Mosque, the oldest functioning mosque in its original location in all of Malaysia. (As a friend, AB, pointed out on his own travel blog, everything in Malaysia is worthy of a superlative if you add enough modifiers.) It was actually commissioned by the Dutch, surprisingly, as a part of their new policy of pluralism in their empire. (Previously Malacca's first mosque had been destroyed by the Portuguese, who destroyed all non-Christian religious symbols.) Like Masjid Kampung Kling, this mosque includes a variety of styles, including a Javanese tiered roof topped with a Chinese-inspired pinnacle.
Farthest away from the rest of the town was St. Peter's Church, the oldest Roman Catholic church in the country. The church's bell was made in Goa. Unfortunately it was closed so we couldn't see inside, but the grounds included a monument to Mary and an installation representing Jesus's walking on water miracle in three of the four gospels, during which he rescued St. Peter, the church's namesake. (You are invited to walk in the very shallow water, if you like.)
We caught a cab for the last two miles to the bus station, where we hung out until our bus took us back to Kuala Lumpur. As I wrote in the KL post, we spent another day seeing the Petronas towers and touring the city before heading to our next port of call. Malaysia was interesting as much for the concepts it helped us visualize regarding globalization, the environment, and the importance of sea routes as anything else. It's certainly a country on the move, and if they have their way then the next time I visit they may be "a developed nation", as is their dearest wish. I doubt the same will be said for our next destination -- Cambodia, as beautiful in its ancient authenticity as Malaysia is interesting for its enforced modernity.
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