104. Malacca

Arrival in Malacca
Having left the town of Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands early in the morning, we arrived in Kuala Lumpur around 1.00PM - it was hot, humid and smelly. (All those buses emitting exdaust fumes). A far cry from the Highlands. The bus to Melaka left at 1.30PM and arrived at 4.00PM. I caught a taxi from Melaka Sentral for the final leg. After checking into my accommodation, I did a "walking tour."

About Malacca
Like Georgetown in Penang, Malacca is also included in UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites under the category “Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca.” (Malacca city centre was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 7 July 2008.) Some five hundred years ago, both Georgetown and Malacca were major trading ports which linked the east with the west and the multi-cultural heritage and tradition of Asia, and European influences still survives to this day - you can see this in the beautiful colonial buildings and architecture.

While Georgetown symbolises the British-colonial era from the late 18th century, Malacca represents the characteristics of the Dutch and Portuguese eras from the 15th-century Malay Sultanate. Known for its historical prominence and cultural appeal, Malacca of the 16th century was the foremost maritime trading centre in the region and was so desirously sought after by the European powers that is was successively ruled by the Portuguese (1511 - 1641), the Dutch (1641 - 1824), and British until the Federation of Malaysia was formed on 31st August, 1957 when it gained independence.


What's In a Name ~ Malacca or Melaka?
Malacca is the name I have always known (the city is commonly known as Malacca in English) - Melaka is the Malay name, and was known as Malaqua to the Europeans in the 1500's. An English woman married to a Malaysian man for many years whom I met in Malacca, to my question, "Which is correct - Malacca or Melaka?", replied that when she first came to live there it was known as Malacca and the Malaysian government changed it to Melaka because "it sounded more Malaysian" but she disagrees with this and still spells it Malacca.

When researching online, I have found that the place is spelled as "Malacca" more often than as "Melaka" - even in Wikipedia it is referred to as "Malacca." Which is correct or more correct? I should think it would depend on your point of view wouldn't it? There will be those who will always refer to this place as Malacca just as there are no doubt those who refer to it as Melaka. To satisfy both camps, under "labels" in the sidebar, I have listed it as Malacca/Melaka.