Heritage Melaka On New Year's Eve

The Dutch and the Malay forces captured Melaka from the Portugal control about 120 years after 1511. Soon after, Heeren XVII knew that the portuguese would be driven out of the region. Only the casados or the portuguese soldiers who had married local women remained. On one side of the Saint Paul's hill, the fort guards the walled-village and on the another side of the hill, the stadhuys administered the village.

Unfortunately, when the Dutch take stock of Melaka after the capture, many places had been ruined. But soon, houses were rebuilt in Bukit Cina, Tranquerah, and Bandar Hilir with the use of palm leaf. Areas like Cheng, Bukit Baru, Balai Panjang, Bukit Katil and many more places ... were inhabited forest.

As a walled-village, Melaka was a pleasant place with the fresh breezes throughout the day. The fort and the stadhuys still stand today. On New Year's eve, fireworks zoomed to the night sky from the fort's side while the clock tower announced the countdown at 12 midnight from the stadhuys.