Malacca And Lanka: What A contrast!

By Kumar David -November 24, 2013 |

Prof Kumar David

Puzzling differences between Peninsular Malaya and Lanka - Malacca and Lanka: What a contrast!

A question often asked is why racial and religious relations in Malaysia, in contrast to Lanka, are relaxed and communities more tolerant of each other; comparatively of course. Recently while in Malacca, I was similarly interrogated by a nubile and durian addicted female. Malacca’s history does resemble Lanka’s, but now exhibits this distinction sharply. Having mulled it over I intend to share my thoughts; but first a short outline about Malacca.  The Sultanate (now state) of Malacca was founded by the Hindu Raja Parameswara when he was driven out of Singapura in 1377 by the powerful Mapahit Empire of Java. Myth has it that sitting by the Melaka River (a largish stream) under a nelli tree (phyllanthus emblica) in 1400, pondering his misfortune, he witnessed an incident between his hunting dogs and a deer which persuaded him that this was the best place to set up shop. Islam, however, had arrived in the 12-th Century in the far north, in what is now the state of Kedah, when its Hindu ruler converted. Conversion was by persuasion, not the sword, so Islam in Malaya has been easy-going and plastic. Parameswara converted to Islam in 1414.

Straits of Malacca: Narrow sea lane between peninsular Malaya and island of Sumatra
Choke point for sea routes to Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, China and Japan.

Malacca sits athwart the eponymous Straits, the choke point for shipping between the Indian Ocean and the Middle East on one side, and SE Asia and the Far East on the other. To bypass it, ships will have to round the Indonesian Archipelago, navigate the difficult Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea, then turn north past the Philippines, before rounding off south again to SE Asia, or steaming on further north to China and Japan. Therefore the Malacca Strait is a vital sea lane. This geography persuaded Admiral Zheng He, the greatest naval commander ever, to steer his Treasure Fleet through the Straits of Malacca on seven voyages to the littoral countries of the Indian Ocean, East African and Arabia, sixty years before Gama reached Calicut or Columbus set foot on San Salvador Island (Bahamas). He always stopped in Malacca, hence Chinese enclaves sprouted there six centuries ago. Large scale Chinese emigration in the 19-th and 20-th Centuries however was under British tutelage, importing labour for roads, railways, and rubber. In its wake first came Chinese traders then businessmen and investors. Now a Chinese community thrives in Malacca and Malaysia.

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