Melaka

Last weekend we took a short trip to Melaka (also spelled Malacca) in Malaysia. The city is located at the narrowest point of the Strait of Malacca, which is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. Melaka is a four- to five-hour ride NW of Singapore.

Melaka is the first major point NW of Singapore, which is in the bottom right hand corner.

The Hasry Express to Melaka

With no need for a car in Singapore (buses and subway), we took the bus. Before crossing the bridge to leave Singapore, we had to step off the bus and pass through a very quick immigration process. Then it was back on the bus for a five-minute ride across the bridge into Malaysia and through immigration and customs.

The remaining three hours was a comfortable ride past seemingly endless rows of palm trees. These are palm oil plantations, which have replaced tropical forests throughout Malaysia. The oil is used for cooking oil, food products (chocolate, margarine), soap, cosmetics, and a number of industrial processes.

There is no shortage of controversy surrounding palm oil production. Organizations like Greenpeace complain that palm oil plantations have replaced forests, thereby reducing biodiversity. Compare thousands of acres containing only one species of plant versus the same land containing thousands of species of trees and other plants - which would insects, birds, mammals, etc., prefer?.

In response, the Malaysian Palm Oil Council claims that palm oil plantations are the only viable future for this land. In fact, the council claims that the only way to save jungles and protect wildlife is to plant palm oil.

Melaka was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. Melaka has historic significance as a port for the Malay Sultanate, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British, then the Malaysians, over the course of hundreds of years. Now the city celebrates its past by welcoming tourists who walk the streets, photograph old buildings, and purchase souvenirs that will remind them of the trip. We were no different, spending two days exploring the narrow streets and trying to stay dry despite the rain.

The Melaka River. Some people compare Melaka to Venice.

The Christ Church and Stadhuys (town hall), built by the Dutch in the 1700s.

One highlight of the trip was the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum. The high ceilings, intricately carved wooden furniture, large servants' kitchen, and interior courtyards were really something to behold. Three row houses had been fused into one, creating a massive interior space from what looks from the outside like three separate narrow facades. Not only is the house three times wider than it appears from the front, but the interior extends room upon room into the very center of the city block. The internal courtyards make a front yard unnecessary, since they allow in sunlight, rain and wind, thus providing an exterior-feeling space that is incredibly private. We joined 15 other people on a tour of the house, given by a woman. The other guests were speakers of Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese. In this part of the world, it is too risky to guess people's nationality based on the language they speak. This is especially true in Melaka, which has always had a number of residents claiming Chinese heritage and speaking Chinese, but who would now technically be considered Malaysian. In fact, the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum celebrates this Chinese/Melaka blended heritage.

I'll write more about the food in a later post.