Melaka

I arrived in Melaka on a nearly empty bus from Singapore just before noon. I had left early in the morning, and the bus had made good time, arriving at my destination in Malaysia within four hours.

Melaka

Melaka (Malacca) has a really interesting history. The city has a European feel due to its years as a colony of Portugal, the Netherlands, and Britain in succession. I dropped my bags at my hotel and walked out to the Melaka riverwalk. Melaka isn't a huge city, and all of the historical and cultural sites are more or less within walking distance.

lots of Malaysian flags on display -  I later found out that it had recently been a holiday

The first place I visited was the Church of St. Francis Xavier. This Gothic church was built to commemorate the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) who spent quite a bit of time in Melaka. The namesake of Pope Francis is called the "Apostle of the East".

Church of St. Francis

The church holds services in many languages, including Portuguese and English. It was very quiet inside the sanctuary, although there were a few people inside praying. I was careful to be quiet as to not disturb them while I looked around.

Leaving the church, the nearby Dutch colonial buildings are easily recognizable; they are all painted red! The most famous buildings from Dutch rule are the Stadthuys (the old administrative building) and Christ Church.

Christ Church was originally constructed as a Dutch Reform church after the Dutch seized control of Melaka from the Portuguese. It was re-consecrated as an Anglican church when the British arrived in 1835, which it remains to this day.

Neither the Church of St. Francis Xavier nor Christ Church however are the most important church in town. That honor goes to, despite being a ruin, the Church of Saint Paul. Built in 1521, St. Paul's served as the home base for St. Francis Xavier himself as he undertook his missions across Asia. St. Francis was buried at the church after his death in 1552 before being moved to Goa, India. At this time, the bones of St. Francis' right hand were removed for the creation of a relic.

The church was briefly used as the Dutch Reform High Church until the construction of Christ Church, when it was subsequently abandoned. The British used the ruins as a powder magazine for a while, but the old building generally was left to deteriorate.

Now a historical site, a statue of St. Francis was constructed in 1952 at the church. Interestingly, the day after its unveiling, a tree fell on the statue breaking off his right hand - the same hand which was removed from the body of the real St. Francis.

St. Francis Xavier

The church is just a shell now. The roof of the sanctuary is gone, but the old Dutch graveyard has been kept up. There are lots of interesting old gravestones to look at. I visited the church around dusk. The old graveyard was a little spooky.

Things seemed to close early in Melaka. I got some rest and an early start the next morning. I first visited the Independence Monument, a free museum detailing Malaysia's independence and unification. Malaysia is a federation made up of thirteen states or sultanates and ruled by a king elected from among the Malaysian sultans. The sultanates are ruled by hereditary sultans, and the states, where the monarchy was abolished by the colonial rulers, have governors. Modern Malaysia was formed in 1963 after gaining independence from the United Kingdom. Singapore was very briefly a constituent territory of Malaysia, but was quickly expelled. The Sultanate of Brunei was invited, but declined to join. It is currently a sovereign country on the island of Borneo.

Independence Monument

Next I went to the Sultan's Palace. The original palace was destroyed in a fire, but has been rebuilt following the original design. It is currently a museum about the history of the sultanate.

Sultan's Palace

Before I left Melaka on the afternoon bus back to Singapore, I visited Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (Temple of the Green Cloud). Founded in 1645 to serve the spiritual needs of merchant-traders from China, Cheng Hoon Teng is Malaysia's oldest temple. Worshipers can practice the "Three Doctrinal System" of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.

The mostly open-air temple is incredibly ornate. Although Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country, there is a significant Buddhist population as well. I found that like Singapore, Malaysia is a religiously diverse country.

After the incident in Indonesia, I had the foresight to book my return ticket to Singapore in advance. There was no need for me to worry though. The bus back to Singapore only had four passengers! I got back to Singapore just after dark with a few days ahead of me to finish thoroughly exploring the top sites of the tiny country. Melaka is a quiet little town packed with history. I feel like two days was plenty of time to explore, but there were several museums that I didn't get the chance to visit. It was a different change of pace from Singapore, and I really liked Melaka's atmosphere.