*Malaysia Special* - Malacca

I must say, I was pretty lucky and thankful to have had the chance to make a trip home to Malaysia just 6-months after moving to Beijing in 2012. Except, it wasn’t an ordinary trip back home, it was a filming trip with CCTV News' feature programme - Travelogue! Yes, exciting indeed, but it came with a price – that is spending only an hour and a half at home with my family and two dogs between flights. But an hour and a half is better than nothing at all.

Our little team of five - Producer, Director, two Cameramen and myself, met up late in the night at the Beijing Capital Airport, excited, as we were about to head out of China to a destination we had been planning for, for months; A country where its attractive advertisement we so often see on TV, that many can actually sing and recite its tagline: “Malaysia, Truly Asia”.

All of us knew we had a tough 10 days ahead of us starting from the moment we touch down in Kuala Lumpur after our six-hour overnight flight. Sleepy-eyed, we met our local guides early in the morning and immediately headed south to our first filming location – Malacca, just a two-hour drive away from Kuala Lumpur.

Malacca (or Melaka in the Malay language) is known as the ‘Historical City’ because the history of Malaya is said to have started here -- So, what better place to begin our journey, than in Malacca.

Malacca used to be a major port along the spice-route in the 15^th century. It was considered an alluring port for traders due to its strategic location. If you look at the map of the Peninsula of Malaysia above, ‘Melaka’ is protected by the large island to the left that’s Sumatera, Indonesia. It was a safe place for traders to take a break and seek refuge during the Monsoon season. With that, Malacca has been fought for and colonised by the Portuguese, Dutch and British.

You may have come across the image above when flipping through travel brochures on Malacca, as this is considered one of the iconic structures of this town. Christ Church is the oldest functioning protestant church in Malaysia which was built by the Dutch in the 1700s. Masses and sermons are still held in this church in English, Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia and Tamil (a south Indian language), as Malaysia is a mosaic of three major races – Malay, Chinese and Indian.

Situated in the Dutch Square, or Red Square, this is a great starting point for visiting the old town of Malacca. In fact, most major sights are within easy walking distance to each other from here, but if you’re feeling sluggish, this is also the starting point for rickshaw rides. Allow me present to you - the colourful and rambunctious rickshaws which are all over the old town of Malacca!

Not only are they riotously decorated according to the whimsy of their owners, most of these rickshaws have got speakers on them too, playing hits such as Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’, Black Eyed Peas’ ‘Don’t Stop the Party’, a remix of Adele’s ‘Someone like you’… You get the idea. Songs which make you want to party on the rickshaw!

That’s me, totally affected by the exuberance of this town and also the funky tunes played by other passing rickshaws. While this gracious old man is so immune to his surroundings, probably muttering: ‘Oh, what a tourist’... Yep, I was indeed a tourist in my own country! Okay, but please don’t let me scare you… Not all rickshaws are equipped with speakers, and you could always tell them to turn down the volume or switch the music off if you want some peace and quiet.

And just as I was craving for a moment of the said ‘peace and quiet’, we heard from a distance, the song ‘Dancing Queen’ by Abba being played. As the music grew louder, we located the source...

The booming music came from this cool vintage car! By then, the music was too loud and exciting to ignore. So our team flocked towards this eye-catching car, while I sashayed to the vehicle, in accordance to the music, to have a chat with the driver. 

This is the cool and jovial owner, who very kindly allowed me to hop into his car for a 10-minute ride around the old town of Malacca! It was a Monday that we were there, and I was curious what this young man was doing out on a Monday afternoon. Through a chat with him, I found out that he is actually a retiree whose hobby is to modify and reassemble old cars to give them a new chance in life. He sure did a wonderful job with this vintage car which he made look so handsome and attractive.

And guess what?! We actually saw him again the next day! (Well, more like we ‘heard’ him approaching from afar) Ecstatic to see him again, I put on hold what I was doing so I could dash out to say ‘Hi’. Thankfully he was driving really slowly with his car, if not I would not have been able to catch up. Again, very curious, I asked him what he was doing driving around on a Tuesday morning, and he said that as a Malaccan who loves his town very much, he simply enjoys driving around, playing his favourite classic hits out loud, entertaining and brightening the days of people whose path he crosses. Well, he definitely succeeded in doing that! The thought of him never fails to put a smile on our team’s face.

If ever you were to see this guy when you visit Malacca, please give him a BIG WAVE and tell him “KayLi from Travelogue says HI!”

Alright, I’ve become all excited again just writing about that! But there’s so much more to share, so let’s move on, shall we?

This is another iconic structure in Malacca – Porta de Santiago, the oldest standing European monument in Malaysia which was built by the Portuguese in 1511 to defend Malacca from invaders. In a nutshell, the fort was later taken over by the Dutch in 1641, and the British blew up the walls and gates when the Dutch handed Malacca over to the British. 

‘Why would the Dutch so easily hand over a strategic location to another country?’ you may ask. That’s because the Dutch had to return to Holland then, to defend their country from being invaded by the French. And the reason the British destroyed the walls was because they were afraid that the Dutch might use it against them in the future once things were settled in Holland.

If it wasn’t for the timely intervention of British Statesman Sir Stamford Raffles (the founder of Singapore), nothing would be left of this fort! So, this picture shows exactly what is left of the fort. I thought I’d mention that just in case you go there expecting a huge fort, only to be disappointed.

In our few hours of filming in the old town, we came across three couples who were there having their wedding photos taken. Malacca is quite a hot-spot for wedding photography. Here’s a beautiful blushing bride whom we met and spoke to:

Notice the tips of her fingers are stained reddish-brown?

Traditionally, the day before a Malay wedding, a ‘berinai’ ceremony is held, whereby the hands and feet of the bride are painted with ‘inai’, or Henna (a dye derived from grinding the leaves of the Henna plant). This practice is actually influenced by Indian customs –-- Instances of cultural fusion such as this, is very common in Malaysia whereby assimilation of different cultures is only natural. Just like how the Malays in Malaysia have now adopted the Chinese tradition of giving out ‘red packets’ 红包 with money in it, during the new year. Instead, theirs are green packets.

Here’s a closer look at her fingers. So the next time you see a Malay lady with her fingers dyed this hue, don’t try your luck in picking her up… She’s just married! Same goes for the bridegroom, except, not all of their 10 fingers are dyed. 

To complicate matters further, some brides opt to have their hands painted with intricate designs and patterns such as the picture above of a tourist from Jordan which we met.

The thing is, this has become more of an art these days… Even I have had my hands drawn a few times, just for fun, and I’m not married. So yes, it’s potentially tricky… You still can’t really tell if a lady is married, or not if her hands were painted this way.

Another picture of a bride having her wedding picture taken in St Paul’s Church, Malacca.

Speaking of St Paul’s Church, this picture of the statue of St Francis Xavier right outside the said church in Malacca is quite a story! 

St Francis Xavier is known to have performed many miracles in the 17^th Century as a ‘Minister in the Service of God’. After his death, his incorrupt body (not affected with decay) was laid to rest in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, India. The Goanese authorities sent a request to the Pope in Rome for Francis Xavier’s canonisation (declaration of a deceased person by the Catholic church to be a Saint). The Pope replied years later, asking for Francis Xavier’s right arm, and when the Goanese authorities severed his right arm from the incorrupt body, blood dripped out! The curious thing is that his body (without the right arm) still remains incorrupt till this day in Goa, India. Now I really would love to check it out for myself the next time I go to Goa… And I definitely wouldn’t miss visiting the Basilica of Bom Jesus when I’m there.

Okay, and back to the picture above. The statue of St Francis Xavier without his right arm wasn’t actually built that way, in fact it happened that a huge tree gave way in 1953, fell on his statue, and his right arm broke off…… Coincidence? You decide.

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My… There’s just so much I could talk about Malacca! This town is simply a rewarding place to visit! When you’re in Malacca, you’re bound to be exposed to the terms ‘Baba-Nyonya’, ‘Straits Chinese’, and ‘Peranakan culture’ --- They all refer to the same thing, essentially. The Straits Chinese are descendants of Chinese merchants who settled along the Straits (particularly Malacca, Penang and Singapore) who married the local Malay women. Over time, these two cultures assimilate, creating a distinct culture that is a beautiful mix of the Chinese and Malay. The men are known as ‘Baba’, while the women are referred to as ‘Nyonya’ (a corruption of the Portuguese word ‘Dona’ which means Lady).

Let me first start with the Nyonya food. I had the privilege of attending a cooking class at the Equatorial Hotel that was conducted by Chef May, a Nyonya herself, and this was what we made:

The ingredients on the far left [note: Pineapple’s just for decoration] - chilies, screw pine (Pandan leaves), galangal, onions, lemon grass, tamarind, lime leaves, palm sugar, Belacan (shrimp paste) and the plate holding many little saucers of different spices are the basic ingredients used in Nyonya cooking.

To be honest, I’ve always been rather hesitant to attempt cooking any Nyonya food, because it is very time consuming with all the chopping, skinning, grinding and pounding before you can actually start cooking, and the fact that there are many good Nyonya restaurants readily available in Malaysia, makes it very convenient to just eat out. But after attending Chef May’s class, I actually found that it wasn’t as difficult as I’d thought it to be... And that was encouraging! Even our cameraman attempted a Nyonya dish when he returned to Beijing and his family loved it!

Back in the olden days, in order to increase the chances of a young Nyonya to be match-made with a rich and respectable man, she would need to be well-trained in cooking and sewing. I’m aware that this is practiced almost worldwide. Women have always been more domesticated and naturally expected to be good cooks, as “the way to a man’s heart, is through his tummy”. 

But the Nyonyas seem to bring things up a notch! Not only are the little Nyonyas expected to master the culinary skills by following strict procedures such as stirring and pounding with the right rhythms at the right temperature, there are also high expectations of the presentation of a meal. They must slice certain vegetables as thinly and as fine as possible for instance, and if a cube of potato were to be chunky and ‘un-lady-like’, or that the cubes are of different sizes, these little Nyonyas will receive a smack on their hands, and sometimes a painful poke in the hand with Granny’s hairpin… This is why Nyonyas are wonderful cooks! I must say our team had one of the best meals at the Equatorial Hotel in Malacca – to the extent our director was ashamed to ask for his fourth bowl of rice!

Another example of the Nyonyas’ meticulous nature can be found in their traditional costume – the Sarong Kebaya.

 *Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

The Kebaya top is made of swiss voile (soft, sheer fabric) that’s delicately embroidered with motifs of flowers and birds, and worn with colourful batik sarongs.

Kebayas used to only be a simple white laced top over batik sarongs, but ever since chemical dyes came into existence in the 1920s/30s, it allowed textiles to be more colourful and bright. And in the mid-20^th Century, the attention shifted from the sarong to the kebaya, resulting in a colourful and happy ensemble (such as the picture above). These days it’s even getting into mainstream fashion as not only is it figure-flaunting and lady-like, it’s also very versatile. You don’t necessarily have to wear it with a sarong (if you’re not feeling particularly ‘traditional’ that day), you can even wear the kebaya with jeans and it looks uniquely chic.

Oh, and please don’t take the photo above the wrong way... Many young ladies wear Kebayas too ;)

Here’s a close-up of the embroidery and sewing at the hems of the Kebaya. I find it extremely intricate and beautiful. I certainly bought a Kebaya for myself!

What we filmed in Malacca can be found in this first episode of my Travelogue on West Malaysia which I wrote and presented, for CCTV News:

(In case the video doesn't appear, you can view it at this link.)

Next, we head to the capital of Malaysia -- Kuala Lumpur.