"My Melaka" a Melaka Travel Page by Azri_Azmi

I was born here in March 1975. But only in year 2000 I start to live in Melaka. My primary schooldays & my secondary schooldays, I did all in Kuala Lumpur & Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan. Even I graduated from a local college in Kuala Lumpur. Never had a chance of knowing much about my hometown but during those years, I frequently travel to Melaka with my parents visiting my grandmother. Now, after 6 years staying in Melaka, I love my hometown a lot. The environments are so peaceful, away from city havoc and the people are friendly. In Melaka, I'm staying in the Tanjung Minyak district which is a 20 minutes drive from Melaka town and 10 minutes drive to the famous Klebang beach. I am working with a local company here based in Batu Berendam. Batu Berendam Airport is a landmark here and there will be a massive expension of this airport to cater big commercial aircraft such as Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. It is a good step to boost the travel industry here in Melaka because the nearest International Airport to Melaka is the Kuala Lumpur International Airport which is 1 1/2 hours away.

Melaka being founded in the 1396 by Raja Iskandar (King Iskandar) a.k.a Parameswara. Because of its strategic location, Melaka became famous especially for foreign trader (strategic port/harbour) to trades varieties of goods. This then invited interest by foreign power to conquered Melaka and rules the Straits of Melaka.

Being invaded by Portugese in 1511, by the Dutch in 1641 in a vicious fight between Portugese & Dutch. In 1795, the Dutch handed Melaka to the British in avoiding being invaded by the French after Napoleon War. (The Dutch lost to the French). Being again handed to the Dutch by British in 1818 but then as an exchange to Bangkahulu Sumatera, the Dutch handed Melaka for the 2nd time to British in 1826 to syncronize British Colonial in Malaysia that inclusives of Melaka, Penang & Singapore.

Although Melaka is situated 2 hours away from the capital Kuala Lumpur, it is an important state to visit. What I wanna stress out here that Melaka is a must visit place in Malaysia because here is the beginning of Malaysia. Visiting Melaka meant visiting Malaysia. And of course not to forget the elements below :-

> The History.
> The culture.
> The people.
> The food.
> And lots of interesting places......