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Magazine Contributors Dennis de Witt The Stadthuys of Malacca
Magazine Contributors Dennis de Witt The Stadthuys of Malacca
| The Stadthuys of Malacca |
| Tuesday, 04 July 2006 00:00 | ||
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At Malacca, the old Dutch colony of Malaysia's historic city, stands the grand and majestic Stadthuys.  Malacca came under Portuguese control by capturing the famous Malay trade emporium and ousting its sultan in 1511. Thereafter, the Iberians controlled the trade route in the Straits, much to the annoyance of the Dutch whose trade strength had grown tremendously in the region by the 17th century. Finally, an all-out attack for the capture of Malacca was ordered by Governor-general Antonio van Diemen and his council at Batavia.The Dutch attack on Portuguese Malacca began in June 1640 with a large number of sails and troops. Fierce fighting erupted as the fort was bombarded by Dutch ships but were replied with the heavy guns of the Portuguese. Dutch and German VOC troops came ashore and pushed the defenders into the confines of their fortress. Finally, both sides settled down to a long siege as they constantly harassed each other with repeated bombardments. The prolonged siege resulted in the spread of disease, both among the besiegers and the besieged. It was reported that more troops were killed by illness then by the hand of the enemy. Approximately 1,500 Hollanders perished, including 3 successive commanders and the whole of the secret council. However, Malacca finally fell to the hands of the Dutch on 14th January 1641. When the dust of conflict settled and the Dutch had time to assess their newly acquired possession, they were alarmed to discover that little of the town had survived their relentless bombardments. "It was like the destruction of Jerusalem" they reported to their superiors in Amsterdam. So, the Dutch set about to rebuild Malacca from the ashes of its destruction. The strong walls of the fort were repaired and defences were further strengthened. Administrative buildings, commercial buildings, warehouses and private dwellings were built in the town and Asian traders were enticed to return to Malacca. The first governor appointed to Malacca was Jan van Twist and the Dutch began building the Stadthuys to serve as the residency for the new governor as well as an administration centre and town hall. The Stadthuys was raised on the very same spot where the Portuguese governor’s house had been, which was too badly damaged to be of any use to the Dutch. Its construction was carried out by skilled Javanese and Chinese craftsmen. The Stadthuys of Malacca is a reproduction of the former Stadhuis (town hall) of the Frisian town of Hoorn in the Netherlands. However, the former Stadhuis of Hoorn only existed from 1420 until 1796. Hoorn's former Stadhuis was replaced in 1796 by a building that is now known as het oude stadhuis (the old town hall), which is still found there. However, Hoorn's het oude stadhuis was in use until 1977 and at this moment the city hall of Hoorn is a modern building. Therefore, anybody who wishes to see what the former Stadhuis of Hoorn looked like in the 15th to 18th centuries, only the Stadthuys of Malacca can give an excellent representation of the now extinct Frisian building. In its heydays, the Stadthuys was situated within the walls of Malacca fort and located opposite the northern gateway into the fortified town, across the river. The fort itself encompassed a considerable area surrounding the hill of St. Paul’s, which accommodated offices and warehouses for the VOC and all the amenities needed by its colony. The fort walls no longer exist today thanks to the folly and vandalism of the British who maliciously ordered its destruction while safeguarding Dutch possessions in Asia from the French, during the Napoleonic wars.  The Stadthuys is a massive complex. The building's interior has two floors and it is 30 metres wide. Apart from being the governors' house, the Stadthuys also includes the Secretary's office, a prayer room, a dining room, a guest house, servant’s quarters, the home of the Chief Merchant, a prison, trade office, warehouses, courtyards and a detached bakery. The spacious records room of the Stadthuys is exceptionally suitable for the preservation of official documents, even though tropical climate is often the cause for the swift deterioration of paper. With massive metre thick walls, a high ceiling and big floor tiles, it provides a cool interior atmosphere and apparently has a dry-cellar effect.Standing at the Dutch Square, the Stadthuys appears majestically impressive with its big windows, doors and stairs. On the outside, a stone balustrade leads a dual stairway to a small balcony that is also accessible through a door on the first floor. The balcony overlooks the square outside. It is not difficult to conjure a picture of the governor standing at the balcony while smartly uniformed Dutch troops stood to attention at the square and presented their salute, in times of old. During the Dutch rule of Malacca, the Stadthuys, like all the other Dutch administration buildings in Southeast Asia, was painted white. By way of the Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1824, Malacca was given up by the Dutch and the town became a British colony. In 1911, the British painted the Stadthuys and the Christ Church a salmon red. The actual reasons as to why these buildings were painted red by the British is now lost in time but legends and theories are abundant. One opinion was that the buildings were painted red to copy the colour of red brick stone houses in Holland. Apparently, the Dutch painted the buildings red to remind them of their homeland. However, this theory is flawed because it was the British, and not the Dutch, who painted the buildings red. Another theory was that the British wanted to differentiate British built houses from the old Dutch houses. Therefore, the British painted the old Dutch buildings red. However, there were other old Dutch buildings in Malacca that were not painted red by the British. Most amusingly, it was also suggested that the red discharge from chewing sireh (betel) was constantly spat onto the white walls of the buildings by the locals in venting their hatred and contempt for the Dutch. Later, the British simply decided to cover it up with red paint. A witty tale probably perpetuated by anti-Dutch propaganda and contrived by nationalistic British colonials. A more plausible reason given was maybe due to the lack of maintenance, the red laterite stone used to build the Stadthuys showed through the whitewashed plastering. Also, perhaps heavy tropical rain often splashed the red soil up the white walls. So, the British decided to paint it all red to save maintenance costs. The date for the construction of the Stadthuys and why it was painted red were not the only mysteries that are kept by this alluring building. There are also tales of secret pathways and tunnels that were suppose to serve as strategic hidden entry and exit points in the building. The famous Malacca-born Malay scholar and teacher, Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir, who as a young man worked as a scribe for Sir Stanford Raffles in Malacca, wrote in his historically acclaimed autobiography that there was a tunnel that ran through St. Paul's hill into the Stadthuys. Abdullah also remarked that the building had a door which gave direct access to the Malacca river, located about 200 metres away. It was thought that the river exit provided the governor with an escape route out of the fortified town, in case there was trouble. Although the rumours of secret tunnels have perpetuated in Malacca throughout the generations, these stories have never been substantiated. Dutch conservation architect, Laurens Vis, in his thorough investigation of the Stadthuys in the 1980s found no evidence of any secret tunnels or hidden pathways. But maybe the building still closely guards its age-old secrets? Today, the Stadthuys is Malacca's premier museum, welcoming over 48,000 visitors annually. However, it now goes by the name of Museum of Ethnography and it is used for displaying bits and pieces of the different eras of Malacca's colourful history and the culture of its people. Unfortunately, the museum provides no information on the architectural layout, historical function and past activities of the Stadthuys itself. The only feature that gives a somewhat true representation of the history of the building is the governor's room, a single room that attempts to recreate the atmosphere of how it was during Dutch times there. The Museum of Ethnography also endeavours to exhibit, but in a rather dry and lifeless manner, the various cultures of the multiethnic people of the town. There are showcases on the Malays, Chinese, Indians, the sino-Malay Peranakan and even the Portuguese Eurasians. Ironically, the Dutch Eurasians of Malacca whose very own ancestors once treaded those old hallways, are featured nowhere there. Dennis De Witt is a Dutch Eurasian from Malacca who as a hobby studies the history of Dutch influence in Malaysia and the surrounding region. He is currently the Project Co-ordinator of the Malaysian Dutch Descendants Project, a community effort working to bring together the forgotten Dutch descendants in Malaysia. For further information, please visit www.dutchmalaysia.net
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