Retelling Melaka's History

The late US President Theodore Roosevelt put it succinctly: “The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future”

Why is history important and why study it? Some argue that past events especially events which took place hundreds of years ago, has no meaningful impact on the present. But the past has always fascinated us and when it is even remotely linked to our heritage or personal histories, a sense of belonging and even pride, may be felt. The arc of the past is never-ending and it hovers over all of us like a magnificent skyline as we step into the future. History has the power to guide us.

With this in mind, we, Melaka In Fact was formed in 2017 by a trio of passionate individuals to investigate, document, engage, and disseminate Melaka’s rich historical past and fast disappearing traditions.

The approach we take is by investigating little known sources about Melaka’s economic and trading histories, which are scattered all over the world in public and private collections through scholars who had made it their life work to learn about Melaka. Currently, what is known are records and narratives from the European colonial masters. Melaka at its height was more than that. There were trades and diplomacy with other nations and empires. Scholars are unearthing sources from Asians, Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, Chinese, Turkish, and Japanese accounts.