Although Malacca was once one of the oldest Malay sultanates, the state has no Sultan today. Instead, the head of state is the Yang di-Pertua Negeri or Governor.

Geography

The state of Malacca covers an area of 1,650-km2. or 0.5 percent of the whole area of Malaysia. The state is divided into 3 districts, that is Central Melaka (Melaka Tengah) (314 km²), Alor Gajah (660 km²), and Jasin (676 km²). Malacca is located on the southwestern coast of Malay Peninsula opposite Sumatra, with the state of Negeri Sembilan to the north and Johor to the east. Malacca is also situated roughly two-thirds of the way down the West coast, 148 km south of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia and 245 km north of Singapore and commanding a central position on the Straits of Malacca. The state capital Malacca Town is strategically located between the two national capitals (of Malaysia and Singapore respectively) and is linked with excellent roads and highways. Malacca is yet to have its own train station, though the terminal at Tampin, Negeri Sembilan is easily accessible. It has a domestic airport terminal located in Batu Berendam.

The offshore Pulau Besar, Pulau Upeh and Tanjung Tuan are also parts of Malacca.

Demographics

Canals in Malacca
Malacca has a population of 759,000 as of 2007, being composed of:
* Malays: 57%;
* Chinese: 32%, including the Peranakan community;
* Indians, including the Chitty people: a sizeable minority;
* Kristang, people with partial Portuguese ancestry: a small community.
* Dutch Eurasians, Eurasians with Dutch ancestry: a minority within the Malacca Eurasian community.

Major Malacca towns are Malacca Town, Alor Gajah, Masjid Tanah, Jasin, Merlimau, Batu Berendam and Ayer Keroh.

History

1630 map of the Portuguese fort and the city of Malacca
1854 map of the “British Territory of Malacca”
[edit] Sultanate of Malacca
Main article: Malacca Sultanate

Prior to the arrival of the first Sultan, Malacca was a simple fishing village inhabited by local Malays. Malacca was founded by Parameswara, a Srivijayan prince of Palembang who fled Sumatra following a Majapahit attack in 1377. He found his way to Malacca c. 1400 where he found a good port accessible in all seasons and on the strategically located narrowest point of the Malacca Straits.[1]

According to a popular legend, Parameswara was resting under a gray tree near a river while hunting, when one of his dogs cornered a mouse deer. In self-defence, the mouse deer pushed the dog into the river. Impressed by the courage of the deer, and taking it as a propitious omen of the weak overcoming the powerful, Parameswara decided on the spot to found an empire on the very place that he was sitting. He named it ‘Melaka’ after the tree under which he had taken shelter. Another version of the story says that Parameswara chose the name ‘Malacca’ from the Tamil word ‘mallakka’ which means upside down or on ones back. Old illustrations of the scene where the mousedeer kicks the dog shows the dog falling on its back into the river, hence the inspiration. Parameswara converted to Islam in 1414 and changed his name to ‘Raja Iskandar Shah’. In collaboration with allies from the sea-people (orang laut) the wandering proto-Malay privateers of the Straits, he established Malacca as major international port by compelling passing ships to call there, and establishing fair and reliable facilities for warehousing and trade.[1] Mass settlement of Chinese, mostly from the imperial and merchant fleet occurred during the reign of Parameswara, occurred in the vicinity of the Bukit China (”Chinese Hill”) area, which was perceived as having excellent Feng Shui (geomancy) in Malacca then. Sultan Iskandar Shah died in 1424, and was succeeded by his son, Sri Maharaja also called Sultan Muhammad Shah.

The prosperity of Malacca attracted the invasion of the Siamese. Attempts in 1446 and 1456, however, were warded off by Tun Perak, the then Bendahara (a position similar to Prime Minister). The development of relations between Malacca and China was at that time a strategic decision to ward off further Siamese attacks.

Because of its strategic location, Malacca was an important stopping point for Zheng He’s fleet. To enhance relations, Hang Li Po, allegedly a princess of the Ming Emperor of China, arrived in Malacca, accompanied by 500 attendants, to marry Sultan Manshur Shah who reigned from 1456 until 1477. Her attendants married the locals and settled mostly in Bukit China (Bukit Cina).(See Zheng He in Malacca). Scholars have disputed Hang Li Po’s status in China as because she was never recorded as a princess in the Chinese court of the Ming Dynasty in the Ming Chronicles. At the time of the arrival of the Sultan’s envoy, the reigning Ming Emperor was Jingtai Emperor. Records of his reign was expunged following the ascension of Tianshun in 1457. It is likely that if she were a princess in the Ming court, records of her might not exist. In many historical text, she was said to have been a princess in the court of the Yongle Emperor(1402-1424).

A cultural result of the vibrant trade was the expansion of the Peranakan people, who spread to other major settlements in the region.

During its prime Malacca was a powerful Sultanate which extended its rule over the southern Malay Peninsula and much of Sumatra. Its rise helped to hold off the Thai’s southwards encroachment and arguably hasten the decline of the rival Majapahit Empire of Java which was in decline as Malacca was rising. Malacca was also central in the spread of Islam in the Malay Archipelago.

European colonization

In April 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque set sail from Goa to Malacca with a force of some 1200 men and seventeen or eighteen ships.[2] They conquered the city on August 24, 1511. It became a strategic base for Portuguese expansion in the East Indies. Sultan Mahmud Shah, the last Sultan of Malacca took refuge in the hinterland, and made intermittent raids both by land and sea, causing considerable hardship for the Portuguese. In the meantime the Portuguese built the fort named A Famosa to defend Malacca (its gate is all that remains of the ruins at present). “In order to appease the King of Ayudhya” (Siam, whom had always intended in invading Malacca if not due to the latter’s good relationship with the Ming Emperor, China) “the Portuguese sent up an ambassador, Duarte Fernandes, who was well received by Ramathibodi.” in 1511.Finally in 1526, a large force of Portuguese ships, under the command of Pedro Mascarenhas, was sent to destroy Bintan, where Sultan Mahmud was based. Sultan Mahmud fled with his family across the Straits to Kampar in Sumatra, where he died two years later.

It soon became clear that Portuguese control of Malacca did not mean they now controlled Asian trade that centred around it. Their Malaccan rule was severely hampered by administrative and economic difficulties.[3] Rather than achieving their ambition of dominating Asian trade, the Portuguese had fundamentally disrupted the organisation of the network. The centralised port of exchange of Asian wealth exchange had now gone, as was a Malay state to police the Straits of Malacca that made it safe for commercial traffic. Trade was now scattered over a number of ports amongst bitter warfare in the Straits.

The Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier spent several months in Malacca in 1545, 1546 and 1549. In 1641 the Dutch defeated the Portuguese to capture Malacca with the help of the Sultan of Johore. The Dutch ruled Malacca from 1641 to 1795 but they were not interested in developing it as a trading centre, placing greater importance to Batavia (Jakarta) in Indonesia as their administrative centre. However they still built their landmark better known as the Stadthuys or Red Building.
Stadthuys Square

Malacca was ceded to the British in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 in exchange for Bencoolen on Sumatra. From 1826 to 1946 Malacca was governed, first by the British East India Company and then as a Crown Colony. It formed part of the Straits Settlements, together with Singapore and Penang. After the dissolution of this crown colony, Malacca and Penang became part of the Malayan Union, which later became Malaysia.

malacca

Since its incorporation, Petronas has grown to be an integrated international oil and gas company with business interests in 31 countries. As of the end of March 2005, the Petronas Group comprised of 103 wholly-owned subsidiaries, 19 partly-owned outfits and 57 associated companies. Together, these companies make the Petronas Group, which is involved in various oil and gas based activities. The Financial Times has identified Petronas as one of the “new seven sisters”[5]: the most influential and mainly state-owned national oil and gas companies from countries outside the OECD.

The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.

The Petronas Twin Towers were officially opened on Malaysia’s 42nd National Day, August 31 1998 – in the Corporation’s 24th Anniversary year.

Before 1985, transportation between the island and the mainland was solely dependent on the state-owned Penang Ferry Service that runs between Butterworth and George Town.

Similar to the ferry services in Penang, toll is only paid when heading to the island. There is no charge for leaving the island.

Currently, the Penang Bridge is being expanded from 4 lanes to 6 lanes to accommodate the increasing traffic on the bridge. A proposal for a second bridge, the Penang Second Bridge, has been approved by the Malaysian federal government and included as one of the Ninth Malaysia Plan national projects. Construction work of the new Penang Second Bridge began in November 2008, and the target completion date is May 2012.

Recently, the Penang Bridge was assigned its own route number of E36.

Kek Lok Si, or Temple of Supreme Bliss, is the largest and arguably the best known temple in Penang. It straddles a hillside overlooking the town of Ayer Itam and George Town beyond that. It is a temple that harmoniously blend Mahayana Buddhism with Taoist beliefs and other Chinese rituals, creating an amalgam that is uniquely its own. Since the olden days, the hills of Ayer Itam are regarded as important geomantically. Known as He San, or Crane Hill, they are recommended as a retreat for Taoist practitioners striving for immortality.

The Kek Lok Si project was mooted by the chief monk of the Kuan Yin Teng, Goddess of Mercy Temple of Pitt Street. With the support of the consular representative of China in Penang, the project received the sanction of the Manchu Emperor Guangxu (also called Jingdi, 1875-1908, of the Qing Dynasty) who bestowed a tablet and gift of 70,000 volumes of the Imperial Edition of the Buddhist Sutras. Funds to get the project realised came from wealthy benefactors of that time, including Cheong Fatt Tze (of Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion), Zhang Yunan, Cheah Choon Seng, Chung Keng Kwee (the Kapitan Cina who owned Hai Kee Chan) and Tye Kee Yoon. In recognition of their contribution, they were all made the Five Principal Directors of Kek Lok Si.

The initial temple structure was built on the summit of He Shan. It cost $180,000 Straits Dollars. The 10-acre site was purchased in 1893, and the temple was completed in 1904. An official opening ceremony was conducted on 13 January, 1905.

For the first thirty-five years of its existence, the temple was without its iconic pagoda. Nevertheless it was already assuming a position as one of the most prestigious and renowned Mahayana Buddhist religious institution in Southeast Asia. It was only in 1927 that the iconic pagoda, today one of the most recognizable landmarks of Penang, came into being. Construction began in 1915 under the second abbot of Kek Lok Si, Ben Zhong, who was also instrumented in founding the Kuan Yin See. Its official name is the Pagoda of Rama VI, so named after the Thai monarch who laid the foundation stone. Generally, however, it is better known as the Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas or Ban Po That. This unusual pagoda combines a Chinese octagonal base with a middle tier of Thai design, and a Burmese crown, effectively fusing Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism symbols into one structure.

The two star attractions of Kek Lok Si Temple are the Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas and the giant bronze statue of Kuan Yin.

The 30.2m bronze statue of the Avalokitesvara – Goddess of Mercy or Kuan Yin, standing on the hillside above the pagoda, was completed and open to the public at the end of 2002.

The mosque was commissioned by the late Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz, when he declared Shah Alam as the new capital of Selangor on February 14, 1974. Construction began in 1982 and finished on March 11, 1988. During the reign of Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz, Shah Alam Mosque was built between 1982 and 1988. The Mosque is also known as the Blue Mosque owing to its blue dome which is one of the largest in the whole world. The structure of the mosque incorporates Malay and Islamic architecture

It’s architecture is a combination of Malay and Modernist style. It is nicknamed as ‘Blue Mosque’ for its blue aluminium dome covered in a rosette of verses from the Qur’an.
At the hallway (first floor) of the mosque.

The main dome of the mosque is one of the biggest domes in the world, measuring 170 feet in diameter and 350 feet in height from the ground level. The four minarets are the second tallest in the world at 460 feet. In its early years, the mosque was also listed in the Guinness World Records as having the tallest minaret in the world [1], a title it had lost to the King Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca.

The mosque is large enough that on clear day it can be seen from certain vantage points in Kuala Lumpur. The mosque can accommodate up to 16,000 worshippers.

The total population of Malaysia is over 25 million people, with 1.5 million in the capital Kuala Lumpur. Bahasa Melayu is the National language though English is widely spoken throughout Malaysia as well as a number of Chinese languages – Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokien.

Malaysia is divided into 13 states, of these 11 being in Mainland Malaysia and the 2 states of Sabah and Sarawak located in East Malaysia on Borneo Island.

Top 10 Things to do in Malaysia

1. The food – for me the highlight of Malaysia is the food. The great variety that is found here is amazing. From traditional Malaysian spicy curries, to Indian Tandoori chicken to the many different types of Chinese cuisines found throughout Malaysia.

2. The Orangutan – Malaysia’s national treasure – the Borneo Orangutan found in Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia.

3. Relaxing on Langkawi Island. Langkawi is the perfect place to just sit and relax. There is plenty to do on the island if you are energetic though also perfect for relaxing.

4. Visit the Elephant Sanctuary at Kuala Gandah around 2 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur.

5. Food markets in Kuala Lumpur – yes food again though the food markets are an experience more than just tasting food.

6. River cruise in Sarawak – traveling down the Rajang River from Kuching inland to visit the traditional villages with their longhouses surrounded by jungle.

7. Scuba diving or snorkeling on the Perhentian Islands. Some of the best coral reefs to be found in Malaysia are found around the two island Perhentian Besar and Perhentian Kecil.

8. Climb Mount Kinabalu – Kota Kinabalu Sabah, not for the unfit, the climb can take 6 – 7 hours leaving late at night to arrive at the summit in time to watch the sunrise.

9. Central Markets Kualu Lumpur – for a shopping spree you can’t go past Central Markets. Selling a wide variety of souvenirs and gifts including Malaysian arts and crafts, batiks, fabrics and clothing and more food!

10. Sultan Ahmad Shah Mosque – located in Kuantan Pahang, this is an impressive structure. Unfortunately you cannot visit inside the mosque if you are not Muslim, though the outside and it’s surrounding grounds are still impressive.

Upcoming events in Malaysia

Each year Malaysia hold some amazing festivals and international sporting events. Here is a list of the upcoming events:

Sandakan Memorial Day 15th August 2009 commemorating the deaths of Australian soldiers in World War II at Sandakan Memorial Park Sabah.

Ramadan Bazaar 22nd August to 19 September 2010. These are night food markets arranged all throughout Malaysia for breaking the fast at night time.

Hari Raya Aidil Fitri 20th September to 21st September. After the month of fasting during Ramadan this day is celebrated with morning prayers at a Mosque with a celebration with friends and family afterwards.

Penang World Music Festival 2nd October to 4th October 2009. With international and local music.

Borneo International Marathon 11th October 2009. A half marathon and full marathon run being held in Kota Kinabalu Sabah.

Deepavali 17th October 2009. Deepavali is the Hindu Festival of Lights. Hindu families celebrate by having an open house for friends and families to visit and feast. It’s common for the exchange of sweets and lollies.

National Canoe Championships 4th until the 6th December 2009.  Held at the Water Sports Complex Putrajaya.

Chinese New Year festivities will be celebrating the new Year of the Tiger on 14th February 2010. Celebrations begin the week before and continue for a week after.

Malaysia F1 Grand Prix held in Sepang. 4th April 2010