Meleka River

 Meleka, Malacca or Malaque, The Straits of Malacca all romantic sounding names to me as a child as I read of pirates attacking spice laden ships and scooting back home to Melaka, pursued sometimes by naval boats. Never did I think then that one day I would cruise the very river that gave them sanctuary!

The Meleka river, to use the current spelling, is a small river, only about 50 km long and originating in swamps and flat lands instead of mountains, as do most rivers. Melaka was, in the beginning, a small fishing town where it flowed into the Straits of Meleka. It was the centre of piracy in the Straits and, during the days of the Portuguese, it dominated the spice trade. Piracy was a precarious life style and it ended after a Hindu Prince from Sumatra, Paramaswara, fled firstly from home and then from Singapore took refuge in this Pirate town. He saw great opportunities for getting the lifestyle and power he wanted not through piracy but in food production and maritime services. Meleka was half way between China and India - a great location for trade and business. He convinced the Melakans to give up the somewhat tenuous existence of piracy and to grow rice, bananas, sugar cane and such for export instead. He assured the traders that they were completely safe from piracy and convinced them to use Melaka as a re supply base and a refuge from the monsoon storms. His plan worked and Meleka flourished.

River bank plaque depicting the mouse deer versus dogs story

The story about the mouse deer or pelandol is one of how Melaka came to exist. Apparently one day the Prince Paramaswara was out hunting with his dogs around the Dutch Square - St Paul's Hill area when his dogs cornered a white mouse deer. This deer had put in several previous appearances and intrigued the Prince and he was very impressed when, instead of capitulating to the enemy, the mouse deer instead went on the attack. One version has the mouse deer kicking the dogs and presumably escaping, while the popular version has it forcing the dogs into the river. Either way, the Prince was so appreciative of the mouse deer's defiance - he was a bit of a rebel himself having had to flee from trouble of his own making several times - that he decided to build his new city on the very spot. Not only that, he named it Melaka which was the name of the tree he was sitting under while enjoying the spectacle!

Water wheel, Meleka

This 13 metre water wheel is a replica of the one built to channel water for the trading ships

Canons along the riverbank to protect the city from the many invaders, and there were many. Pre Paramaswara days these included the Arabians, Indians and Siamese.

Old Crane, Meleka River

When the Dutch invaded Meleka it was still a thriving trading port with bigger boats anchoring  outside the river lagoon while the smaller ones were able to come up close. A crane was needed to lift heavy solid objects. The arm was made of wood and was 6 metres long.

Meleka River Cruise

Meleka has been a UNESCO Heritage City since 2008 and its buildings are now preserved and restored with tourism now replacing piracy and, to some extent cash crop trading. We joined on such tourist orientated attraction, the River Cruise. This runs every hour during the day and also at night starting from the river mouth near the water wheel and costs a mere RM 15 or 20. [ There's a slight increase for non Malaysians.] Unfortunately we were last to board and had to be content with the last remaining seats at the back - not a good spot for taking photos, though.

Melaka river

The river nowadays is quite narrow and also shallow due to build up of silt. It wanders slowly through the town where the bridges over are all different and eye catching.

Melaka  bridge

As the boat chugged slowly along, it rounded a bend to the surprising sight of colourful murals painted on the walls of shops, former warehouses and houses. They depicted the mix of the ethnic origins and culture groups of the Melakan population. How lovely they were!

Melaka River Mural

Rounding another bend we came to . . . Pirate Park! How my young grandson would have loved to play here! Pirates are one of his favourite subjects these days, along with his enduring love of Thomas the Tank Engine and Dinosaurs. Maybe he'll end up here in Melaka!

Pirate Park, Melaka

After about 25 minutes the boat turned around for the downstream return and I noticed the wide walkway on the other side of the river. It would be a very pleasant walk with waterside restaurants where you could stop and enjoy the atmosphere, watch the world go by and maybe contemplate what this river would have been like in pirate days.

Boat terminal

As we arrived back at the terminal near the river mouth, the sailing ship made a lovely picture.