Letters from Melaka

July 21, 2025By maverickbirdPosted in Asia, Malaysia, Outside India

Table of Contents

Greetings from the warm Malacca Straits. I am in the rose-red, beautifully preserved city of Melaka, and it just feels great here. This is the heart of the elusive, but dazzling Baba Nyonya culture, and Perankan liveliness has never been more vivid. It’s been a warm, sunny day, and I have come to Melaka from Kuala Lumpur for some R&R. KL can be an exhausting metropolis, and work is difficult in Malaysia’s muggy heat. This is my umpteenth trip to Melaka, and I never fail to visit this lovely erstwhile Portuguese and Dutch colony whenever in the Malaysian mainland. So, what draws me here endlessly like magic, you may ask? And the answer is endearingly simple. Melaka is sweet, if ever that adjective can be applied to a city, and it is the best place to let your hair down (at least in my eyes).

Melaka, a UNESCO World Heritage

The name sounds mellifluous, rolling off the tongue easily. Its UNESCO World Heritage City Center is a touristy delight, and the Melaka River is soft and lazy. The city is well-maintained, offers great shopping, and the food is to die for. All these attributes make Melaka the perfect getaway spot, and then there’s the enticingly layered, elusive history. Melaka has a daredevil, vigorous history which belies its present-day laid-back charm, and the city has centuries of bloody rifts behind it. In fact, its birth is shrouded in legends, which heightens Melaka’s allure, and the port city, which had been catapulted to prosperity by its reigning Sultans, originated from a sleepy fishing hamlet. Inhabited by local Orang Laut Malays, Melaka had been discovered by Parameswara, the last Rajah of Singapore (the then Tamasek) in the 1400s.

#Malaysia #Melaka #Peranakantiles — Historic Melaka

How Melaka came into being

By then, the Javanese and Thai kings of Ayuthaya had already realized the trading potential of the Malay Strait, and furious rifts had ensued between the two. Parameswara, himself, had been a victim of those fierce struggles of domination, and he had allegedly been a Sumatran prince before fleeing to found the new establishment of Tamasek or Singapore. The Javanese, however, had not left him in peace, and they had eventually forced him to take refuge at a place north of Bertam. The simple local people had welcomed the exiled royal, and he had settled his family there too. One day, when his son, Prince Iskandar Shah, had gone hunting near the modern-day Melaka Hill, a fleeing mouse deer had led him to the sea. Iskandar had the immediate sense to foresee the spot’s trading potential and had asked his father to seize the opportunity. The old ex-rajah had faithfully worked on the good omen and had established a brand new settlement there. Iskandar had named it Melaka after a tree under which he had been sitting on that fortunate day, and the rest they say is stuff legends are made of.

The unique culture of Melaka

Melaka flourished from its very conception, and the ruling sultans soon turned it into an international port. With cooperation from the local sea-faring Orang Lauts and scattered pockets of individual Malay maritime merchants, they built safe and reliable warehouses, facilities, and firmly established fair trade. Soon, a wealthy and cosmopolitan town sprang up around the port, and it became a major trading hub of textiles and spices between Indonesia and India. Wealth brought ambition to Melaka’s rulers, and its territorial expansion eventually spread as far as Perak, Singapore, and parts of Sumatra. Culture flourished too, and soon the merchant town became a hotbed of fine language, dance, literature, and formal royal court etiquette. Melaka became a queen, and her fame spread far and wide. The smell of money by then lured the Chinese traders and expeditionaries, and soon formal relations ensued. The Chinese royals and traders intermarried with the locals of their social strata, adapted to the Southeast Asian practices and languages, and this gave rise to the bedazzling Perankan culture.

The interesting Perankan culture

Perankan loosely denotes a gorgeous melting pot of ethnic identities, and today this word refers to many socio-cultural groups in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Although they have branched into Perankan Dutch, Perankan Chitty, Perankan Jawi, etc, Melaka remains the birthplace of this unique culture. That’s why the city is a treasure house of Baba Nyonya origins, and many beautiful museums display its glories. Baba is an honorary title given to a Perankan man of means, and his Chinese ancestry as well as local residence in the Malay straits go back centuries. Nyonya is Baba’s female equivalent, and this invaluable title is not handed out to Chinese immigrants of recent times. Vintage Baba Nyonya photos show exquisite people dressed in formal garbs, and they are a gorgeous mix of ornate Chinese styles with Southeast Asian vibrancy. Their cuisine, too, is ravishingly delicious, and it was the blend of both that first attracted me to Melaka.

#Malaysia #Melaka #BabaNyonya #Peranakan — It was a treasure trove

Oppulence and intricate

Everything about the Peranakans had spelled money, and the ostentatious of their costumes, along with their love for gold and handmade slippers intricately embroidered with Peranakan cut beads, complemented perfectly with the traditional dinnerware they had used. Their life was dedicated to fine luxurious details, and their eye for intricacy was visible in every aspect of Peranakan culture. Victorian era crystal chandeliers, dazzling gilt trimmings, rich costumes, beaded slippers, and exquisite jewelry showed off the “on your face” indulgent life of these rich traders, and I found their Peranakan tiles to be most exquisite. Found generously plastered on old buildings, passages, floors, and door sills, the Peranakan tiles are unique to the mysterious Baba Nyonya culture, and I came across them in several Southeast Asian cities like Singapore, Georgetown, etc. Because of the humid weather, in olden times all Peranakan houses opted for a uniform flooring of the unique tiles, and eventually, their colourful prettiness, apart from the cooling factor, made them popular as home decor items too. Lilies, roses, and carnations of pinks, pistachio greens, and baby blues were the most popular motifs for the walls, and the floors were resplendent with geometric designs in mostly white, black, yellow, and sapphire.

Baba Nyonya area of Melaka

I love the Peranakan tiles’ childlike, simple loveliness, and they were a burst of beauty, making even the drab areas of a building come alive. The preserved Baba Nyonya area of Melaka, too, was like an open-air gallery of these tiles, and on that hot afternoon, I happily spent hours tracing my fingers over their cool, uneven surfaces. Despite the heat and general feeling of unease, that afternoon was one of the most pleasant days of my life, and it was very picturesque too. A bright midday sun kept the crowds at bay, thus providing the heritage place nearly for myself, and pieces of an exquisite blue sky showed from between bright old buildings. Except for occasional stray cats and smokers, hardly anybody was visible, and the siesta time had contributed to a quiet, cozy lull. It was a peaceful, solitary walk.

#Malaysia #Melaka #BabaNyonya — A heritage beautiful enough

#Malaysia Melaka #Jonkerstreetfleamarket — To give the flea market a miss

An afternoon walk in Melaka

Everywhere, rainbow colours of lemon yellow, aqua blue, dusty rose, ruby reds, and orange glided past me in forms of old restored Peranakan homes, and strings of Chinese lanterns fluttered over beautiful street art splattered walls. At times, I felt as if I were walking through a virtual garden, and the patterned beauty of pavements, walls, and window sills decorated prettily with floral tiles, miniature dragons, and rosy lintels, was bedazzling. Flowers peeped from every nook and corner, and concrete roses twined around floral bouquets under salmon coloured roofs. Resplendent in this exotic beauty, Melaka never seemed more beautiful, and the abundance of gorgeous Peranakan tiles threw delicate floral hues at every step. The stately old buildings, fluttering lanterns, and springing flowers whispered tales of old glory, and it was the sudden livening up of the scene that had brought me back to reality. Being a weekend, a soft Melaka sunset started making the flea market at Jonker Street buzz with action, and lost in my walk, I never noticed the time slipping by.

While on any other day, the prospect of a flea market would have excited me like crazy, on that evening, I was happy to give it a miss. Instead, I sat at an outdoor table of the Geographer’s Cafe and recollected details of my exquisite Melaka afternoon. It was a walk to remember, and I off from Melaka with beautiful memories to last a lifetime.