Friday, 2 November 2012

historical sites and attractions

The are many interesting place one can mingle in Malacca especially the historical sites which most of it can be found within walking distance.


Malacca's Sultanate Palace


 

Built based on the description and reference to the palace in 'Sejarah Melayu(the Malay Annals), the wooden replica houses the Cultural Museum of Malacca. Situated at the foot of St. Paul 's Hill, it is the only Malay palace from Malacca's glorious past of the sultanate era built with such detail and refinement.



Mosque

                                                                       Tranquerah Mosque
The mosque is unique and bears testimony to the fact that Islam had its rightful place in Malacca almost 600 years ago. Was built in 1728, is one of the oldest mosques in Melaka. It was renovated in 1890 and 1910, and is unusual in having a rectangular shape and a three-tier roof -- a pagoda-like structure -- instead of minarets.


Kampung Keling Mosque

The Kampung Keling Mosque is a Sumatran-style building with a three-tiered wooden roof. The mosque was built in 1748 and the outer wall was completed in 1868. The styling of the building is highly eclectic. It is one of the few mosques with a pagoda instead of a minaret. Also, the interior has no dome, which is very unusual. The arcade around the prayer hall is a series of Corinthian columns, reflecting European influence


Kampung Hulu Mosque

This mosque was built in 1782 is also during the Dutch  rule and can be considered one of the oldest mosque







A'Famosa

It was build by the Portuguese as a fortress after Malacca fall onto their hand in 1511. It sustained severe structual damage during the Dutch attack on Malacca and would have been completely demolished by British if not for the timely intervention of Sir Stamford Raffles in 1808 and that remains of it today.
 
Stadhuys

 
This building is a testimony of fine Dutch architecture. Build in 1650 as the official residence of Dutch Governors and administration center, is the oldest Dutch building in the East.

 
Churchs

St. Paul's Church
Built by the Portuguese in 1521 was formerly a chapel and it was named as “Nosa Senhora” – Our Lady of the Hill.
 The Dutch used it for their worship for the next 112 years, until they built their own church at the foot of the hill, Christ Church. St. Paul's Church was then abandoned and converted the chapel grounds into burial land for their noble dead.
  
St. Peter's Church                                                The Christ Church



This church was constructed in 1710 during the Dutch period and it is situated outside the administrative and trading centre of old Dutch Malacca.


                                                           This church was built in 1753 and
                                                            still stand majestically
 
St. Francis Xavier's Church                     
 


 Located at Jalan Laksamana, right in the middle of the historical city of Malacca, was built in 1856, in honour of St. Francis Xavier, a prominent 16th-century Catholic missionary.











St. John Fort
Rebuilt by the Dutch during the third quarter of the 18 th century, the fort was once a private Portuguese chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The fort has an interesting feature in that its gun embrasures face inland as during that time, attacks on Malacca came mainly from the hinterland instead of from the sea.


                                                                              Flor de la Mar



The replica of the Portuguese carrack that sank off   the coast of Malacca after conquering Malacca and   with a huge booty.




The Queen Victoria Fountain





It was built in 1904 by the British to commemorate Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee and it still stands elegantly until this very day. The fountain is one of the last traces of British colonial era in Malaysia.










The Proclamation of Independence Memorial




The Proclamation of Independence Memorial was built in 1912. Visitors will be able to view a collection of exhibits – displayed in chronological order and divided into several sections – including manuscripts, videotapes and other audio and visual collections which all document Malaysia’s struggle to achieve its independence from the British colonial rule.





Thursday, 1 November 2012

malacca at nite

enjoy the colourfull light at nite.

Malacca river transformed into a romantic & magical river at night and every visitor should enjoy this enchanting moments.
 

MELAKA RIVER CRUISE







The cruise can be at day or night time but it is adviseable to cuise at night because you can see colourful light along the river.


Nightly especially from Friday to Sunday nights, Melaka river is transformed into a romantic and magical river of lights. It is very romantic to stroll down the Melaka River and all visitors should enjoy this enchanting walk along Melaka River and enjoy the lights.



Venue: The Melaka River jetty in front of the Quayside Heritage Centre.
Departs daily from 9am to 11.30pm
Ticket: Adult RM10, child below 12: RM5
Group Tour: RM100 per boat. Can be arranged by calling Melaka River Cruise at 06-281 4322 or cruise guide Bernard Kenneth Gooting at 012-9127210


Night Zoo






Malacca Zoo - Day Zoo from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm (from Monday to Friday )
Malacca Zoo - Night Zoo from 8.00 pm to 11.30 pm (only on Friday,

Day Zoo : Adults: RM7, Children: RM4
Night Zoo : Adult RM10, Children RM5
Students in Uniform : RM2
Saturday, eve of public holiday and school holidays)
 

Saturday, 27 October 2012

minority ethnic races

In 1511,Alfonso D’ Albuquerque took the city for the Portuguese. In 1641 the city passed into Dutch hands after a siege lasting 8 months. In 1795, the French occupied Holland, so the British, allies of the Dutch, temporarily took over the administration of the Dutch colonies. In 1824, Melaka was ceded to the British in exchange for the Sumatran port of Bencoolen, (Bengkulu today). From 1826 onwards Melaka was ruled by the English East-India Company together with Singapore and Penang under the Straits Settlement administration.

Over the years, the cross cultural assimilation and inter-marriages have produced the unique communities of the Straits Chinese (Baba-Nyonya or Peranakan), Chitty, Portuguese and the Eurasian. Besides the Malay, Chinese and the Indian, these are the minority of Malaccan  multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic way of life. All the ethnic races here in the state, practice and carry out their religious beliefs in peace and harmony, respecting each other’s taboos.




The Portuguese intermarried with the local population and are now collectively referred to as Portuguese-Eurasian or 'Kristang'. These ethnic group are mixed Portuguese and Malay and for some possibly Indian or Chinese ancestry, which arose during the Portuguese colonial period (16th to 17th century). The Portuguese influence permeated to encompass their distinctive influence into architecture, culture, traditions, food, arts, music and language.



The decendants of the Portuguese still speak Creole Portuguese (Papia Kristang) or Cristang (Cristao) and observe many of the Portuguese customs, traditions and practice. There are Portuguese Settlement in Malacca located in Ujong Pasir. Most of the them are fisherman for many generations.

 
 
 
 
Although the Dutch colony stay longer than the Portuguese in Malacca and many of the building remains are Dutch, there is no specific Dutch Village here like the Portuguese Village.  the Dutch descendants are exist in this country and they are consider the minority within the minority. They are scattered all over the country and not only centered in Malacca. They maybe the smallest group of Eurasians in Malaysia but the they are descendants of the VOC or Dutch East India Company pioneers who ruled Malacca in 1641 for 16 decades.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Baba Nyonya are Malacca's strait-born Chinese or 'Peranakan' whose lineage traces back to centuries ago when the Chinese emigrated from China and inter-married with the local women. This is a very unique culture in Malacca where the Chinese culture is assimilated into Malay customs. They have several similarities with Malay culture in terms of dress, food and language. However, most of them are not Muslim even though they practice Malay traditions.
 

The Chittys ancestor are traders who arrived in Malacca in the 14th century and are also known as Chitty Melaka or Malacca Straits-born Hindus or Indian Peranakan. The heterogeneous Chitty community was born of a long history of inter-marriage between women from the local Malay, Javanese, Chinese and Batak communities and Indian traders.



 
Like the Baba-Nyonya the Chitty are also assimilated into Malay customs in terms of dress food and language.They have a unique culture that differentiates them between other races such as Malays, Chinese, Indian and others. Their settlement situated at Gajah Berang in Malacca.




Saturday, 13 October 2012

new attractions..

 
 Besides the historical sites that Malacca had so much to offer there are also many interesting things you can do while you are here...

 


MELAKA DUCK TOURS
 
 
Offers a combined city, island and harbor tour without the hassle of switching craft. More than a tour, it is 45 to 60 minutes of land sea adventure. The tour route would cover sites of interest such as Porta de Santiago, Sultanate Palace, Independence Memorial Museum, Mahkota Parade and Pulau Melaka. The Duck Tour will enter the Straits of Melaka from Floating Mosque towards the Great Island before entering back Banda Hilir at Melaka River.
Rates : Adult RM 38.00 / Student RM 28.00 Children (Age 3 to 12 yrs) RM 22.00 Toddlers (0 to 3 yrs) FREE Full DUCK charter RM 1,500.00 Family Package: 2 Adult & 2 Child RM 100.00*


* infors are from Tourism Melaka



Menara Taming Sari
 
It was design base on Hang Tuah's legendary Taming Sari Keris. Orginaly the site was near the river bank, but upon construction an ancient artifact was recover hence the site was move to current location. From this 80 metre tower you can view a spectacular and panoramic 360degree view of  Malacca from above.




 Rates : Adult RM 20.00 Children RM10.00 Senior Citizen RM17.00








The London double decker bus in Malacca



 
 
 
 
These buses was one of the attaraction at the town area. It started its services on Aug 14, 2007 and made 13 stops including shopping and leisure areas. The two double-decker red tour buses which were brought here from London are no longer playing the tourist belt in the historical city due to under repair and waiting for spare part from London. At the moment one of the bus has been exhibit at the transportation museum here in Malacca while awaiting repair.


Monorail
 
The monorail is located at Taman Rempah, the track is about 1.6 km long along malacca river it was not mean for commercial transportation instead a tourist attraction. The speed only 12km per hour allow you to enjoy the scenic Malacca river. 
 


 



















Thursday, 11 October 2012

about malacca

The location
Malacca is one of the thirteen within Malaysia is located on the Western Coast of Peninsular Malaysia facing the Straits of Melaka, about 147 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur and 245 kilometers from Singpore. The state of Melaka covers an area of 1,650-sq.km or 0.5 percent of the whole area of Malaysia sandwiched between the states of Negeri Sembilan and Johor. The state is divided into 3 districts, which is Central Melaka (Melaka Tengah) (314km2), Alor Gajah (660km2), and Jasin (676km2).





The State Emblem
The 5 keris on the picture represent the five brave warriors during the Malacca Empire namely Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Lekiu, Hang Lekir and Hang Kasturi. The yellow crescent moon and star in the middle shows that Islam is the official religion in Melaka. The “melaka” tree is the tree from which the State derives its name. The two mouse deers supporting the shield serve to recall the incident how the mousedeer defeat a dog which is bigger than itself. The State motto reads : “Unity is Strength”.




The State Flag
The colours blue, yellow, red and white on the Malacca flag reflect the exact colours of the flag of Malaysia. This marks Malacca as a Malaysian state. The crescent moon and star are the symbols of Islam, the official religion of the state and country.






State anthem
Melaka Negeri Bersejarah
Tempat tumpah darah kita
Dijunjung dengan sepenuh jiwa
Untuk maju dan jaya
Rakyat Melaka sudah bersatu padu
Berikrar taat setia
Jujur berkhidmat setiap masa
Melaka Maju Jaya