Hnnh.mr's: 2019

Assalamualaikum and good afternoon to my fellow friends. My name is Hannah binti Mohd Rosdee from DUP4 in Polytechnic Metro Kuantan. In this post, I would like to share about Monument of Dutches and Portuguese in Malacca. The Portuguese had come to Melaka on 11 September 1509 during the reign of Sultan Mahmud Shah. The arrival and the Portuguese invasion of Malacca came from a bit of misunderstanding, the Sultan had arrested some Portugis traders who came to Melaka. In July 1511, with the command of Alfonso De Albuquerque they arrived in Malacca to attack. The Dutch arrived in the “Kepulauan Melayu” in 1559.Their ultimate aim is to obtain spices, nutmegs and cloves. The traders has joined with the United East Indies Company or V.O.C on March 20, 1602.Netherlands established a Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1602 to control the spice trade in the “Kepulauan Melayu”.The Melaka conquest by the Portuguese in 1511 has embarked on a new era of Western power intervention in the Southeast Asian region, particularly in Malaya. Recognizing that the Southeast Asian region has wealth, especially the spice production center which at that time became the most valuable merchandise, this has led Western authorities to venture into Southeast Asia with the aim of securing and monopolizing spice trade, expanding their market and political influence. Obliging each merchants vessel to get a trade pass to trade in Melaka and they monopoly tin’s traders in the Malay states (mainly in Perak, Selangor and Ujong River) by signing an agreement with the Malay king.

A’Famosa was built in 1511, the settlement used to sprawl across a whole hillside but now only a gate of the A Famosa (Porta de Santiago) remains and its located downhill from St. Paul’s Church. Porta De Santiago is one of the oldest surviving European architectural in Asia, it is beside the Sultanate Malacca Palace. A’Famosa is Malacca’s sightseeing spot. It is builded by Alfonso de Albuquerque the one who led the Portuguese invasion on the Malacca Sultanate.Albequerque had the fortress built around a natural hill near the sea. Albequerque believed that Melaka would become an important port linking Portugal to the spice trade from China. In the 16th century A’Famosa housed the entire Portuguese administration, including its hospitals, five churches, elongated stockades and four key towers. One tower was a four-storey keep, the others were an ammunition storage room, captain’s residence and an officer’s quarters. The rest of the bastion comprised of townhouses clustered inside the fortress walls. The fort was expanded in 1586 to accommodate Malacca’s growing population. For Example, A’Famosa like whitewashed gatehouse.

The Stadthuys is believed to be the oldest-surviving Dutch building in the East. Part of Malacca town square’s prominent Dutch colonial architecture that was builded once the official residence of Dutch governors and officers. Stadthuys was builded in 1641 and 1660 on the ruins of a Portuguese fort. The Stadthuys of Malacca was the focus point of several successive governments. In 1982, Stadthuys was converted into a museum. The Stadthuys displays typical features of Dutch colonial architecture with massive walls, louvred windows and chunky doors with wrought-iron hinges. In the stadthuys has about Malaccan customs and traditions as well as the city’s rich history, from the great Malay Sultanate to the Portuguese, Dutch and British occupations. It is believed to be white but as a result of immigrants from india who always spit on the wall, it is painted in red. Meanwhile, opposite the Stadhuys,has a church named Christ Church that was built in 1753. The reason of the built is to celebrate a century of Dutch occupation. The interior of the cathedral has 200 year-old handmade pews, decorative fanlights and plaques that honour Dutch soldiers and locals. Christ Church was constructed due to the fact that when the Dutch first conquered Malacca, they had no place of worship other than St. Paul’s Church, a small chapel built on St. Paul Hill.

St. Paul’s Church was built between 1855 to 1857 and enlarged by Portuguese that added gun turrets to the chapel and it became a fortress. In 1590 a belfry tower was added to the front of the church and it was renamed the Church of the Mother of God (Igreja de Madre de Deus). When the Dutch invaded Malacca in 1641 it was badly damaged and the belfry tower was destroyed but the complex was later repaired and renamed St. Paul’s Church, it was primarily used as a Protestant church for about 112 years until Christ Church was completed in 1753. Under the British administration, a lighthouse was built and it eventually ended up as a storehouse for gunpowder.The ruins of St. Paul’s Church are at the summit of St. Paul's Hill. It was constructed by captain Duarte Coelho (Portuguese nobleman), in gratitude to the Virgin Mary for saving his life during a storm at sea. Roofless and covered in ferns, it was originally called the Nossa Senhora da Annunciada (Our Lady of the Annunciation). Though it has been in ruins for more than 150 years, it is a beautiful, breezy sanctuary set near the remains of A’ Famosa fort. A marble statue of St. Francis Xavier, that was built in 1953. Stories say that the arm of Francis used to bless his converts from the body when Xavier was to be canonized in 1614. When the marble statue was erected in 1952,after his death. Inside the ruins of St. Paul’s Church is basically a decaying stone interior. Lining the walls, there has intricately engraved tombstones belong to Dutch nobility that were buried. St. Paul’s Church offers great views of Malacca and there are buskers and souvenir stalls at the top of the hill heading down on the other side leads to Porta de Santiago, the remains of the great A’ Famosa Fort.

Inconclusion, we must retain the architecture and heritage aslo known as the symbol of history that can give input and benefits, to tourists and local peoples to appreciate the history of our country. In other conclusion, to get something we must set a high target to success create a name and have to be done continuosly, so that not swallowed by time.