In the mood for historic Malacca

Dewi Anggraeni, The Jakarta Post, Malacca

For those Indonesians of the generation where the Story of Hang Tuah featured in their secondary school's literature and history lessons, Malacca, a city on the southwest coast of the Malay peninsula, is never far from memory recall.

The five protagonists in the story -- Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu -- were valiant knights of the 15th century kingdom of Malacca, known as Melaka to Indonesians.

The five Hangs are indeed immortalised in Malacca, in a manner of speaking. Their names have been given to streets with cultural and historical significance.

"Historic" is often used to describe Malacca. For a first-time visitor the place may be linked to history in a pleasant but unintended meaning. At entering the township, you will feel as if you are stepping back into history.

To begin with, the slower pace of life, the friendly locals with their readiness to answer questions from a stranger, are all delightfully alluring to big-city-weary tourists. Not surprisingly Malacca seems to be a place for people from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to relax.

Founded by Parameshwara, a fugitive prince from Sumatra, in the beginning of 14th century, Malacca has experienced its fair share of political turbulence.

According to Abdullah bin Abdulkadir Munsyi's Malay Chronicles, China's Admiral Cheng Ho visited Malacca in 1403 and gave his official recognition to Parameshwara as the king of Malacca. Parameshwara reciprocated by acknowledging his responsibilities to China, sending gifts to the emperor in 1405, and asking him to make Malacca part of the Chinese empire, to protect itself from the neighboring kingdom, Siam.

Successive Islamic sultans then reigned until the first Western force, the Portuguese, invaded and occupied the place, followed by the Dutch and the British. While it may have had a violent and bloody history, the present Malacca shows a richness of culture in a peaceful living.

By road from Singapore, Malacca is only some three hours away, while two and a half hours is enough to reach it from Kuala Lumpur.

Most of the streets in the township, built around the winding Malacca river, are so narrow you cannot avoid close proximity with other people. Fortunately you generally come across locals with very friendly body language and a laid-back attitude.

Around the northern part of the river is a group of narrow and bustling streets of temples, mosques, cafes and restaurants, shops and houses.

When you walk into Chinatown, which is a cluster of three streets, you are confronted with sights you would think are things of the past. In Jalan Tukang Besi you see blacksmiths making household and garden utensils using charcoal stoves and anvils. In Jalan Hang Kasturi, you can buy handmade lanterns, used here for hanging at the front of Chinese homes, in honor of the God of Jade, I am told.

In Jalan To'kong, also known as Temple Street, shops are selling all the necessities for deities and ancestry worship, such as scented joss sticks, joss paper, and statues of various gods made of papier mache. If you walk along these streets early in the evening, you see all these things being burned as offerings, filling the atmosphere with a kind of dreamlike other- worldness.

In Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, you'll see the heritage of Straits Chinese, known as the Babas and the Nyonyas, who are descended from Chinese nobles who settled in the area. There is even a private Baba-Nyonya Heritage Museum, open to visitors and certainly worth the modest fee charged.

Next to Jalan Hang Kasturi, Jalan Hang Jebat, also known as Jonkers Street, is lined on both sides with antique and souvenir art stores, many of these sandwiched between a coffin maker shop and a motorcycle repair workshop, or between an automotive electrician place and a restaurant.

Around the southern part of the river is a cluster known as Malacca's historic belt, where you find among others, the Cultural Museum, Stadthuys, the Chinese Cemetery, St Paul's Church, Christ Church, and the Protestant Cemetery, and Porta de Santiago. The road in the core of this centre are paved instead of bitumenised, emphasising a busy but pleasant village atmosphere.

One of the historic sites, St. Paul's Church, the ruins of a former chapel built in 1521 by Portuguese captain Duarte de Coelho, is definitely worth an extended visit for its eerie ambience, if nothing else. De Coelho built it in dedication to de Nossa Senyora de Oiteru, or Our Lady of the Hill, for what he believed as his miraculous escape from the corsair attack in the South China Sea. Of course once you step out of the ruins the eeriness quickly disappears, blown away by the colourful sight of art and souvenir stalls filling its peripheries.

Jalan Laksamana, where the road is paved, is lined with shops selling beautiful garments and accessories, operated by local Indians and Malays.

Apart from the strong presence of Malays and Baba-nyonyas (Straits Chinese) as well as recent recent immigrant Chinese, the population of Malacca shows little evidence of Portuguese, Dutch and British descendants. These countries, once powerful occupying forces in different times, are only represented in architecture and specific buildings. The Stadthuys for example, now the Malacca Historical Museum, is as solidly Dutch as when it was built in 1650 as a municipal office, and is still better known by its Dutch name.

Getting around the township is best done by walking. However, if from time to time you want to give the weary feet a rest, there is no shortage of trishaw drivers who would take you for short trips. Or, why not take a ferry along the river, to see the township several meters below the street level? It certainly gives you an interesting perspective and paints a different character of the place.