Melaka River Tales-Old and New Face-to-face

The Water- wheel of Life

Ancient hub of our ancestors

Still thriving, the Melaka river

Playgound of naked brown children 

and the bulging-eyed slimy mudskipper 

Watery reflection of our heritage

The old Melaka of yore

Face to face with the contemporary

spanking new buildings never anticipated before

Echoes of  ghostly cannons from Portuguese galleons

on the Eastern bank of the estuary

Sounds of merriment on the hotel patio

Clinking of glasses sparkling with sherry

So the past meets the present

Intermingling of cultures and songs

In a place unique with our story, where we, 

my siblings, cousins and friends belong.

Linking to:

My World Tuesday

Jingle's Poetry Potluck

Watery Wednesday
The Creative Excahnge

The Melaka River

This is my first post in a series on my hometown, Melaka, in Malaysia.


Melaka (or Malacca) is a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site. Certain parts of Melaka have been designated as being part of the world's heritage sites. These sites are The Melaka River, St. Paul's Hill, The Dutch Stadhuys buildings, Jonker Street, Jalan Tukang Besi, and Kampung Morten.


The Melaka River has played a significant role in the history of Malaysia, ever since Melaka was founded by Parameswara in 1402. This river was where the Malacca Sultanate grew and extended its Empire in the region. The Portuguese and later the Dutch fought for power and trade on the banks of the river. In its heyday, the river dubbed the "Venice of the East" was the meeting place of traders from the East and West. Even during  the English colonialisation and the Japanese occupation, the river flowing  into the Straits of Melaka had a strategic feature which was most sought after. Today visitors to Melaka can take a river cruise and enjoy a different perspective of  the river.

A sign post  with names of places in the Malay language, and one sign in English!

Here's the river and the boardless 'boardwalk' beside it.

You will love the old village look of kampung houses.

One of the many bridges along the river.

For My World Tuesday, Signs Signs.

 

My World Is...where I find wondrous beginnings.

My world is a wide, wide world

wherever I go, whatever I behold

there's where my world is

calling to me

belonging to me

enriching me beyond treasures!

My neighbours are all one

sharing this village

we call our world

sharing that one thread 

that links all minds

a universal consciousness...

Shakespeare knew what I mean.

We may be from all over the world, but our love for nature brings us together.

And we may roam the world, looking for differences in our culture, in our customs, in our way of life...and what do we find? That we are similar in everything that counts...in our humanity, our joys and sorrows, our love for family and friends, our moral values and even our vices!

This is a Buddhist Temple in Auckland! I like the sentiments expressed in the exhibit. Do read it.

We go in search of fascination

of the beauty of mountains and rivers and springs

we find instead, with fascination,

in the people we meet-the beauty within...

                                                                    Rosie

This poem is dedicated to My World Tuesday and Signs