The old city
still radiates
a timeless charm.
Photos Robert Lie
In Malacca, once considered among Southeast
Asia’s greatest trading ports, nothing parallels
the hotchpotch heritage better than the locals
inhabiting its labyrinthine alleys. After being
discovered by a wandering Srivijayan monarch
from Sumatra, the humble, strategically located
14th-century fishing village on Malaysia’s
southern peninsula enjoyed its golden age
monopolising trading routes from China to
India and bursting at the seams with settlers.
Following colonisation by the Portuguese in
1511, the Dutch in 1641, and the British in 1826,
and – finally – independence, once-bustling
Melaka gradually reverted to its original state
as a sleepy backwater, while her sister cities
rose to favour in their turn. Today, the web of
cultural influences that form this UNESCO
World Heritage Site’s complex identity still
whispers old secrets from historic buildings
and shopfronts, melting into a variety of sights,
sounds and smells for intrepid travellers.
Time has resumed its leisurely pace here.
The air is still; life, languid. Without the
skyscrapers of Kuala Lumpur or the congested
motorways of Johor Bahru, locals potter about,
at their own rhythms, as daybreak comes to
tranquil streets.