Brief History - Malacca

THE MALACCA RIVER AND SEA

THE MALACCA RIVER DIVIDES MALACCA INTO TWO HALVES: IN THE EAST BANK WAS THE OLDER EUROPEAN PRECINCT (ON WHICH PUBLIC BUILDINGS LIKE STADHUYS AND A FARMOSA WERE LOCATED); ON THE WEST BANK WERE BUSINESS QUARTERS AS WELL AS MOST OF MALACCA'S ASIAN POPULATION. THE MALACCA RIVER HAD GIVEN RISE TO A THRIVING PORT DURING THE DAYS OF THE MALACCA SULTANATE. HOWEVER, SILTING SOON MADE THE PORT UNUSABLE. IN THE PIER AND HORBOUR OF MALACCA ARE SHOWN. BY THE TIME MALACCA HAD BECOME PART OF THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS, IT HAD ALREADY BEEN OVERTAKEN COMMERCIALLY BY PENANG AND SINGAPORE. THE OLD TOWN OF MALACCA AND ITS SEASHORE ARE SHOWN IN.

 

MALACCA'S OLD CHINATOWN

GOLDSMITH STREET AND TEMPLE STREET WERE DUBBED "THE STREET OF HARMONY". ALONG TEMPLE STREET, HOUSES OF WORKSHIP STAND SIDE BY SIDE, THE KAMPUNG KLING MOSQUE IS SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE CHENG HOON TENG TEMPLE AND THE TEMPLE OF SRI POYYATHA VINAYAGAR MOORTHI. THE CHENG HOON TENG TEMPLE (ALSO KNOWN AS THE GREEN CLOUDS TEMPLE) IS THE OLDEST FUNCTIONING TEMPLE IN MALAYSIA AND WAS FOUNDED IN 1645 BY KAPITAN CINA LEE WEI KING. THE KAMPUNG KLING MOSQUE WAS BUILT IN 1745; ITS ARCHITECTURE IS SUMATRAN. IT HAS A THREE-TIERED ROOF RISING LIKE A PYRAMID AND THE MINARET IS STRUCTUREDLIKE A PAGODA. THE SRI POYYATHA VINAYAGAR MOORTHI WAS BUILT IN 1781 AND IS UNDER THE JOINT MANAGEMENT OF THE MALACCA CHITTY AND CHETTIAR COMMUNITIES. PPCS SHOW THE KAMPUNG HULU MOSQUE, ST PETER'S CHURCH AND ST FRANCIS XAVIER CHURCH RESPECTIVELY IN GOLDSMITH AND TEMPLE STREETS.

 

MULTIRACIAL MALACCA

IN JONKER STREET LIVED MANY AFFLUENT CHINESE, ESPECIALLY THE STRAIT-BORN CHINESE (ALSO KNOWN AS THE CHINESE PERANAKANS). THE PERANAKANS HELD ELABORATE AND EXPANSIVE WEDDINGS. IN PREWAR MALACCA, MALAYS MOSTLY WORKED AS FISHERMAN OR AS RICE CULTIVATORS, WHILE INDIANS WERE OFTEN FOUND WORKING IN THE CATTLE INDUSTRY. DURING THE COLONIAL ERA, MANY EUROPEAN MISSIONARIES CAME TO MALAYA TO ESTABLISH SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS. THE DAMES DE ST-MAUR, WHICH WAS RUN BY CATHOLIC NUNS, WAS OPENED IN MALACCA IN 1852. PPC SHOWS A BRITISH MAN WITH HIS CAR, DRIVER AND SERVANT.

 

OUTSIDE MALACCA TOWN

THIS SURVEY OF THE PREWAR PPCS OF MALACCA ENDS WITH TWO TOWNS NEARBY: TAMPIN AND TANJUNG BRUAS. TAMPIN IS 30 KILOMETRES NORTH OF MALACCA. RAILWAYS TRACKS LED FROM TAMPIN TO MALACCA BEFORE THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION, BUT THESE WAS LOOTED BY THE JAPANESE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE INFAMOUS SIAM-BURMA RAILWAY (THE "DEATH RAILWAY"). THE RAILWAY LINE WAS NEVER REBUILT AFTER THE WAY.

BACK TO OUR TABLE OF CONTENTS - CLICK HERE

PHOTO GALLERY - CLICK HERE