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Melaka A Life History Less Hurried
t's the greenery that "Till tomorrow", said Tan as he
tells you are a long way excused himself extending his
from home. Everywhere bony hand, crushing mine with a
tropical vines, banana palms, strength that belied his years. I
fruit trees peep over walls or couldn't bring myself to tell him
rear overhead providing that we were moving on in the
refreshment of both sight and morning. Within hours the sun
smell. Clean and green Singapore trickled through the drapes and I
is the prototype city that set off on a leisurely walk down
Shanghai is modeling itself on - wide broad clean streets to the
with a long way to go just yet. train station to book tickets. In
It was a short ride to the Keong hindsight we decided that maybe
Saik Hotel, a charming old we shouldn't have stayed the
renovated row house, in what we night in Singapore and caught an
later found out was the former overnight train instead. But then
red light district. Though if my we wouldn't have met Tan. On the
memory serves me well there was a way back I dallied at a couple of
lot of old Singapore that was a temples, Hindu and Sikh
red light district. Sitting respectively, reflecting the
outside a nearby corner café was cosmopolitan nature of Singapore
the wizened 'Tan', an society. In a nearby park I
octogenarian all too ready to watched some tai-chi exponents
share stories with anyone nearby practicing with swords under the
and willing to listen. Later we far flung shady canopy of banyan
sat around laughing and bantering trees. I'm not sure about the
amongst the smoke, noise and concept of finding inner peace
steam of the local night food while you're hanging onto a dirty
stalls sharing some wonderful great weapon.
laksa and satay for dinner.
The 'express' (sic) train to
Kuala Lumpur was not a memorable three-hour trip to the coast.
one. Well, maybe it was, but not Melaka is famous as an old
for any good reasons. We only trading port that first belonged
managed to travel about ten to the Dutch and later the
minutes out of the now aging, but British before they abandoned it
formerly grand, Singapore station for Penang further north. Here
before grinding to a halt at a the indigenous Malay and
siding, where it remained immigrant Chinese cultures
steadfastly stuck for the next blended into a unique society
hour or so. The a/c felt like it known as baba-nonya. Throw in the
was turned to about minus 10"º. sprinkling of European influences
We had to sort through our bags and you have a wonderful cultural
and then it was four t-shirts all mix unlike anywhere else.
round.
After escaping the harassment of
Finally and gratefully the train various taxi operators and fellow
slid into the brand spanking new touts at the bus station, not to
Kuala Lumpur (KL) Sentral railway mention the occasional giant
station. After a day and a half iguana, we made our way down to
seeing the sights and a night the old baba-nonya quarter where
spent on a friend's coach in one can find a collection of
suburban KL we set off back places to stay amongst the fine
toward Singapore on the long way old family homes. These
around via Melaka. Buses leave magnificent two-story wood and
for Melaka from the Sentral Bus stone structures feature a
Station in KL regularly. In fact, central open courtyard that can
buses from KL seem to leave be used for several purposes. To
regularly for EVERYWHERE - and at me the greatest enjoyment was
an extremely good price. This one lying in a comfortable bamboo
cost a mere 8RM for the recliner, a drink in hand,
watching as a refreshing tropical Hokkien dialect appears to
deluge came thundering down predominate as the favored
inches from my bare feet. tongue. It was interesting to see
how the local Chinese community
That evening we strolled down to clubs come alive in the evenings.
'Glutton's Corner' - a lively At one, groups of elderly people
food market near the sea for both were sitting around chatting when
locals and tourists alike. This suddenly "Achy Breaky Heart" came
is not a place to visit if you on over the loudspeakers. In a
are on a diet. Here, amongst flash they were off their seats
other plentiful offerings such as and all up line dancing! I'm
fresh seafood and noodles, we sorry Billy-Ray Cyrus - but you
helped ourselves to some of the have an awful lot to answer
most delicious satay known to for...
mankind - Kajang satay. Kajang is
famous throughout Malaysia for Upon the morn we sauntered
it's satay, and obviously some of casually around the local,
its townsfolk had either moved surprisingly quiet, streets
across the hill to Melaka or sold browsing the wonderful old
their secret recipe of herbs and antique, second-hand and curio
spices to the local Melakans. stores. Life is not lived at a
hectic pace here and local store
After the meal we strolled (as holders seem just as happy to
best we could under the weight of share a chat as conduct business.
what we'd just eaten) through the We were drawn into many of the
antiquated narrow streets that old temples that litter the old
are reminiscent of some of the district, especially the ones
older towns in Guangdong and that seemed to try and appease as
Fujian where many of the first many gods as possible. If you
immigrants originated from. want to be prosperous and/or live
a long life it seems you've got There are still quite a number of
to cover all your bases! On Jalan other things to see, but with our
Tun Tan we visited the somewhat limited time, there was nothing
tacky Baba-Nonya Heritage Museum left to do except grab our bags
where the tour guide was intent and hop on one of the many buses
on getting us all through in Singapore-bound.
record time. If we dawdled for
too long in one room (viz., more Our time was too short. Allow 2-3
than ten seconds) she just went days in both Singapore and Melaka
straight to the next room and plus a similar time in Kuala
started her spiel, regardless of Lumpur if you continue heading
whether we were there or not. north. Malaysian Airlines and
Singapore Airlines have several
We moved on to the old Standthuys daily flights to and from the
building that was home to Dutch area. Prices vary according to
colonial administration and the season. Hotels in Singapore can
nearby ruins of St. Pauls. be reasonably expensive, usually
Apparently Francis Xavier, that beginning around S$70 per room,
famous apostle to the Far East, per night. In KL and Melaka the
had been buried here briefly rate will be 50-70% of that
before being dug up again and figure. Melaka can be reached
taken somewhere else. Seriously. directly from either KL or
To Macau I think. Old St. Franky Singapore and inter-city buses
got around a bit in his day - are very affordable. It is a good
even AFTER he had carked it. idea to check out the bus before
Maybe he didn't really die and buying your ticket as standards
he's sharing a beach resort with of comfort can distinctly vary.
Elvis and Lord Lucan somewhere.
About the Author:
Nicholas Klar (http://klarbooks.com) is a forty-something writer and teacher from Adelaide, Australia. His most recent incarnation is as the Senior Head of House at a private international college in Shanghai, China where he lives with his family. He has had several stories, travelogues, articles and essays published previously in various media.
Source: www.isnare.com
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