Smile: Inflight Magazine of Cebu Pacific Air

Be a Star in Smile

A Malacca memoir

From the spice route to the tourist trail, Malaysia’s famous historic city has captured the imagination of travelers for centuries.

Text and photos by Lester V Ledesma

IN MALACCA, it doesn’t take long for South-East Asian visitors to come face- to-face with a slice of their past.

Just ask Smile editor Maya Calica, who saw history the moment she walked amid the ancient churches and buildings of the city’s cobblestoned main street. Art director Adi Effendy, one the other hand, felt nostalgia in the countless narrow shophouses that hosted generations of local families.

For our cover model Victoria Bradbury, Malacca was that city she studied in school, back when she was a child in the neighboring state of Johor. “This place is such an important part of my country’s history. I feel like I’ve known it my whole life,” confides the British-Malaysian lass.

My Malacca moment came almost eight years ago, when I awoke early one morning in an antique home in the city’s historic quarter. Dawn was stirring, and an Islamic prayer was being sung from a nearby mosque. I remember looking out the window to see a lone Indian man sauntering on the street. With a cool breeze came the scent of incense, and the faint sound of chattering in the Chinese Hokkien dialect. The air was heavy with the breath of culture and history, and, save for that Honda parked by the sidewalk, this could well have been in another age. It was all so exotic; right then and there I fell in love with this charming old place.

While there are some cities that are just plain old, Malacca oozes culture and heritage in practically every brick and cobblestone. Right on Malaysia’s west coast, on the shore of the Straits that share its name, Malacca brings you back to an age of adventure and discovery. Sure, Malacca may be a popular tourist attraction now, but 500 years ago, it was much more than just a sightseer’s haven. It was Europe’s link to the East.

A wealthy past

Founded around the 1400s by a Sumatran prince, “Melaka” was, once upon a time, the capital of a powerful Islamic kingdom, abundant with riches of the far east. Spices like cinnamon, cloves and pepper changed hands at Melaka’s docks, along with Indian gold, sandalwood and Chinese silks, which made their way along the spice routes to faraway Europe. So strong was its reputaton, the West had already heard of it long before they knew where it was.

This entrepot business boomed until colonialism appeared. Seeking to control this lucrative trade, the Western powers competed to source Asia’s spices. First, the Portuguese colonized this kingdom in 1511. The Dutch ruled it next in 1641, followed by the British in 1824. Eclipsed by the more vibrant ports of Singapore and Penang, this once-prominent city became a sleepy city; the major role it played had been relegated to memory.

Living, breathing history

Malacca’s colonial years certainly weren’t its best, but ironically, it is this checkered past that now makes the city unique. This European legacy is visible throughout its old quarter, especially along the banks of the Melaka River. Here, landmarks like the Red Square have survived the passage of time, its picturesque Dutch-era buildings now host to legions of camera-toting tourists. Behind it lies the much older St Paul’s Hill, the site of a Portuguese fort that once guarded the river’s entrance. An easy hike takes one up to the hilltop ruins of St Paul’s Church — here amidst the cool winds, the sweet-singing buskers and the ornately-carved tombstones of settlers long gone, one can’t help but ponder Malacca’s age-old appeal.

These relics of empire, though, are just one of the locale’s many facets. From the river’s edge, cross the Kim Seng Bridge and step into a different realm. While the east bank of the Melaka River hosts most of its colonial landmarks, the west bank is the setting for a decidedly more homegrown district. This, they say, is the heart of old Malacca: a neighborhood of narrow streets hemmed with aging heritage mansions, clan halls and shophouses. Here, store owners run family businesses that have been around for generations, and everyday life still resembles that of decades ago.

Naturally, this was where we experienced the city’s real charm. Thanks to centuries of contact with foreigners, Malacca’s old quarter is a delightful mix of cultures and beliefs, its residents made up of locally-born Indians, Chinese and native Malays. This city is, in fact, known for its Peranakans — the descendants of Chinese traders who intermarried with Malay folks. Such racial harmony is best demonstrated along the street named Jalan Tukang Emas, where a Taoist temple sits right beside a Hindu shrine, not far from a mosque and a nearby Buddhist temple.

The ethnic diversity extends itself to Malacca’s food as well, which bears influences from just about every corner of Asia; on one particularly tasty morning we gorged on delectable Peranakan favorites like shrimp paste omelette and ayam buah keluak — a sour, spicy chicken stew made with buah keluak nuts — before ordering bowls of Chinese kuay teow noodles and grilled Malay satay sticks. The day didn’t go far before we found ourselves at a table with yet another dish, the sweet, creamy cendol — a not-quite- Indian, somewhat-Chinese and almost Malay dessert of coconut milk, palm sugar and chewy pandan tidbits.

These attractions notwithstanding, we discovered that Malacca’s best assets are the Malaccans themselves. While exploring these streets, we encountered some truly interesting people who help preserve this city’s character. We met folks like artist Hoe Kok Yong, who runs his gallery and antique store within the premises of a restored Peranakan mansion. He came to live here more than 14 years ago, back when the neighborhood was mostly made up of crumbling, boarded up structures. Today, his street holds a growing art scene — one that he hopes will encourage more people to preserve this city’s architectural legacy. There’s also Raymond and Mani Cheah, who transformed a pair of antique warehouses into tourist inns. Far from being just another mass tourism establishment, theirs is the kind that caters to a new breed of smart, culture- savvy budget travelers.

Other locals prefer to stick to the old ways, like Simon and Raymond Yeo, shoemakers whose specialty is the ancient art of golden lotus slippers — the tiny, gold-threaded footwear for Chinese women with bound feet. Since the banning of this ancient custom in the late 1900s, the Yeo brothers now sell these as fine souvenirs for discerning visitors. There are many more of these individuals, of course — from the humble trishaw driver, to the elderly food hawker cooking up yet another of Malacca’s signature dishes — each one adding yet another piece of living heritage to this storied city. Perhaps the spirit of Malacca is best summed up in the words of another local merchant, Shirlyn Lai, whose family has made traditional Peranakan baskets for a number of generations.

“Our hometown will stay the same for as long as we Malaccans live here. Malacca’s heritage is our way of life,” she said. “It’s what we pass on to our children and our grandchildren.”