A Trishaw in Malacca, Malaysia
With Names Like Elvis, Ronaldo, David Beckham, Take the Wheels.
The best way to see Malacca (Melaka) is with a driver/guide in a multi-decorated trishaw. Relax in a multi-decorated conveyance with a name like Elvis, or David Beckham.
Beckham, Owen, Ronaldo, Swartzenegger and Elvis - all taxi-style trishaws.
The trishaws that ply for hire in Malacca (Melaka), one of Malaysia’s most attractive cities, are works of art, adorned as they are with bells and baubles and chrome-framed pictures of footballers like David Beckham, Michael Owen, Ronaldo and Ronaldino and film-stars like Arnold Swartzenegger and Bruce Lee An engraved brass disc on the front told me that mine was the ‘Elvis Presley’.
Although nowadays a sleepy backwater compared to what it once was, Melaka repays time spent in it. Most trishaw drivers also operate as guides, and in addition to mundane historical facts they will offer you a caustic commentary on contemporary politics to help you understand their city.
One of the world’s oldest melting pots, Melaka is haunted by the ghosts of former powers who fought over it. A major trading port during most of its 600 year old history, it was originally founded by a refugee prince from Sumatra under whose rule it became the centre of the Malay world and the greatest trading post in the region.
A melting pot of Chinese, Thai, Arab, Portuguese, Dutch and British.
Chinese, Thai, Arab, Portuguese, Dutch and British, have all left their imprint, making it Malaysia’s most historically interesting city. It shares with Renaissance Florence the fact that the history of the town is in the buildings and the streets you walk. You can sense a more elegant age as you gaze about you, an age of gentlemen in white suits swinging rattan walking sticks – the Malacca canes for which the town was famous - as they went from office to club.
Everything about Melaka reflects its roots. It was the centre for spice traders from China, India, the Middle East and Europe, and although junks still load and unload their cargoes along the waterfront, they no longer trade in nutmeg, cardoman, cinnamon, and silks, but in mundane everyday needs like charcoal and plastic sheeting.
Portuguese Quarter of Malacca and Baba and Nyona
Not far from here is the Portuguese quarter, a place of pretty little villas with flower-filled gardens and patios, andthe Chinese quarter where the houses have the characteristic ‘buffalo horn’ roofs, and the oldest and most beautiful part of the town, the red-painted Dutch Square. Dominating the square is the 17th century Stadhuys, once the Governor’s House, now theMelaka Historical Museum, a testimony to Dutch masonry and architectural skills.
So take a trishaw ride in Melaka, feel the exhilaration of its traffic, savour the Baba and Nyonya cuisine, a speciality of the region, and enjoy the envious gaze of hot and dusty sightseers on foot as you ride in your chariot called, what? David Beckham? Ronaldo? Arnold Swartzenegger? Charlie Chaplin?
