I think most Malaysians or those who have visited Melaka know this sight very well. At the foot of the hill in the picture is the remains of the fort built by the Portuguese after they conquered the city of Melaka in the 1511 AD. The fort is known as the A Famosa... On top is the church of St Paul...
At the other side of the foothill is the replica of Malay palace from the old days of the Melaka Sultanate. Too bad, it is not as well-known as the A Famosa which is a symbol of the downfall of the Malays...
True to its name, the A Famosa is so famous as to be touted as the most major tourist attraction in Melaka...
Next to it is a road called Jalan (street of) Istana (palace) leading to the Melaka Sultanate palace replica. Again, too bad it is not as famous as the A Famosa...
Just look at the number of people going through its gates to get up the hill...
Ah... And so the solid remains of Western colonialism stays on unshaken watching over the Malay lands...
Just look at the sight it commands. Just slightly over 10 years ago or so, I still remember the field seen in the picture as lying next to the beach and the Straits of Melaka. Now with the advent of time, plenty of land has been reclaimed to make way for development pushing up the shore by more than a kilometre further!
Inside the remains of the church of St. Paul, I took the chance to hang out the latest promotional poster for my "Berpetualang ke Aceh" book series...
There... Caught a potential fan already...
Here is the old bell tower of the church...
And here is a plaque explaining the history...
For a better read, you can right-click this picture and open it in another window...
I sit inside and spent some time breathing the air and feeling the aura and the atmosphere of this place...
Outside, I saw this statue of St. Paul. Frankly the first thought that came to my mind was to spit on it then bang it down with something but that would be hooliganism... Why am I so angry? Because I know it for a fact, this top of the hill was actually the spot where the original Melaka Sultanate palace was built. At the foothill was the main mosque and next to it was the royal cemetery. As a Malay Muslim (especially of old Malay royal descend), of course I feel angry knowing how this place was turned upside down so to make way for symbols of Western imperialism. So what happened then?
Well, I think plenty of historians (except those bigotted agents of Western thinking and puppets of colonialism) know that all symbols of Malay history was thorned down and rend asunder after the Portuguese managed to subdue the old Melaka city. Then, they need material to built their fort and guess what... The easiest way is to tear the Malay buildings including parts of the main mosque, palace, even tombstones and used to stones to built their fort. That should be enough reason to make me so angry... Angry too at St. Paul for being a symbol of that conquest and destruction of Malay values but I chose to be sane... Instead of defacing the statue in any way, I decided to pose along with my "Berpetualang ke Aceh" promotional poster!
Despite my early foul mood, I left the place on a brighter note. I might not be able to change history or replace the building up here with the original Malay palace but I still can try to tell as many people as possible the real significance of this place... That it is a reminder of Western imperialism and how strong its influence on the common mind once its fangs has set in... The warning and message. Don't fall into the trap once again! Enough...
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