“Malacca is of such importance and profit that its seems that has no equal in the world… It is a city made for merchandise fitter than any other in the world (said Tome Pires, a Portuguese historian). Another Portuguese writer (Duarte Barbosa) claimed that Malacca is the richest seaport with the greatest number of wholesale merchants and abundance of shipping that can be found in the whole world.“
“The greatness of Malacca did not entirely depend on the fact that it was a major trading centre and a place for the study of Islam for, as an Empire, it was a power to be reckoned within its own right. The extent of the empire included a geopolitical entity covering the whole of the Malay Peninsula, Riau archipelago (surrendered to Indonesia due to English-Dutch Agreement in the late 1920s), Patani (now a part of Southern Thai), and east coast of Sumatera. So, the so-called blessing in disguise of British colonialism that created the Malay Federation was totally null and void!”
“The relations with foreign countries certainly had brought about some influence and change in Malacca. A small group of immigrant community was also founded. As such, conflicts of cross-culture understandings emerged as isolated cases.”
”Let us share quite a humor anecdot. One day, a Malay officer could not pronounce Arabic words properly, and he was strongly criticized by his Arab teacher. He then countered by asking his Arab teacher to pronounce some Malay words which the Arab could not do. Of course, it was an overreact and a kind of disrespected manner to a sifu!”
“It is a pity that we have a very lack references by local historians about Malaccan Empire, which forms the basis of present day Malaysia. Sejarah Melayu, contemporaneously written by Tun Seri Lanang was the only book that has survived to this day. The rest belongs to the orientalists!”
Petikan di atas asalnya tulisan Profesor Dato’ Zainal bin Abidin Abdul Wahid dalam naskhah “The Glimpses of Malaysian History” terbitan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka pada tahun 1970. Penulis blog telah melakukan beberapa pengubahsuaian untuk dikaitkan dengan sambutan ulang tahun kemerdekaan Negara kali ke-52.
Pada hari ini, Melaka hanyalah sebuah negeri kecil yang banyak bergantung terhadap sektor pelancongan dan perkhidmatan. Namun, pencapaian empayar Melaka diiktiraf dengan nama Selat Melaka yang menjadi laluan perkapalan utama dunia hingga ke hari ini. Selat Melaka menganjur dari selatan Thai dan sepanjang pantai barat Semenanjung.
Penulis blog pernah menjalani latihan praktikum keguruan di SMK Seri Kota, Ayer Leleh, Bandar Hilir Melaka. Lokasi sekolah bersebelahan Bukit Cina, namun tidak sempat pula mendakinya. Apa khabar agaknya Encik Zamri, pengajar komputer yang berkelulusan Masters dari Amerika yang ketika itu masih bujang?
Sesungguhnya kisah tentang sejarah kemerdekaan negara tidak dapat dipisahkan dengan era keagungan empayar Melaka. Nostalgia Melaka mengingatkan kita kepada akar umbi, jati diri dan citra sebuah bangsa yang bermaruah. Marilah bersama-sama kita mensyukurinya.
Merdeka, merdeka, merdeka!
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