The sound of prayers
and hymns came from Christ Church
in Malacca's Dutch Square during the launch of the
Holland Days In Melaka in early September. The
week-long event was organised by the Netherlands
Embassy to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic ties
between the two countries and the 50th Merdeka or
Independence celebrations.
Christ Church,
constructed in 1753, is perhaps the
only place in the Dutch Square that still serves its
original purpose. It gave the event a nostalgic feel
of the old days when the Dutch ruled Malacca from 1641
to 1824.
A young bride,
posing for pictures here, said: "There's
historical charm in the buildings. We were awed by
them and decided that we must have our wedding
pictures taken here."
The red laterite
Stadthuys (1650), originally the
residence of the Dutch Governor and his officials, now
houses souvenir stores and a plethora of museums,
among them the History and Ethnography Museum.
Statues of cows, Holland's most iconic animal, lent
atmosphere to the Dutch Square. The five life-sized
cows, made of plastic and fibreglass, were painted
with colourful scenes by artists and children of
European Union countries. Placed near the clock tower
and fountain, the cows were part of an original 28
made to represent the 27 EU countries and the EU
Commission.
Children were seen
cuddling the cows while their
parents took pictures. The Holland cow featured pink,
red and yellow tulips sprouting towards
the blue and white sky.
"Cows are an
important symbol for Holland," said Dutch
Ambassador Lody Embrechts. He said it "symbolised the
importance of agriculture as agricultural activities
take up 60 per cent of land in Holland."
Malacca Chief
Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam Ali
said "it would be good to learn from Holland especially
flower cultivation as it produces tulips for export."
Unfortunately, except for red roses, stalls at the
event offered only fake flowers. There were some fresh
tulips but they were not of good quality as it was not
the tulip season.
Holland Days In
Melaka evoked memories of Dutch rule
and one could feel it at the Tradewind Treasures store
near the Stadthuys door. Here, one can literally take
home a piece of history on one's finger or around
one's neck. Blue and white porcelain from the Wanli
(1625) and Desaru shipwrecks (1830) in the South China
Sea were set in silver pendants, earrings and rings
and sold as jewellery. The Wanli was a Portuguese
vessel that sank off the Terengganu coast while Desaru
was a Chinese vessel that sank off Johor.
Porcelain items from
the two wrecks, such as plates
and kendi (teapots), were sold at auctions or
exhibitions. Broken ones were cut up so that the
little paintings on them, such as deer, dragons,
phoenixes and auspicious writings, could be
immortalised on rings and pendants. These are priced
from RM250.
Holland Days In
Melaka was an opportunity for
collectors of Delft blue porcelain to watch master
artist Martin V.D. Berg at work. His crafts
ranged from little blue and white coasters, teapots,
flower pots and fancifully shaped jars, to larger,
multihued paintings of Dutch people, towns, windmills,
country scenes and his favourite artist, Rembrandt.
There are only about 20 Delft blue porcelain artists
today, including Martin, who has been painting for 50
years. An old woman from Singapore bought some of
Martin's coasters (RM25 each). She said: "In Holland,
they would cost a lot more."
At the ING stall, a
child excitedly manoeuvred the
steering wheel of a sleek car originally used to train
Renault F1 motor racers. His excitement was further
fuelled by a large LCD screen in front of him
where he could "see" himself on a race track.
Multinational Dutch finance and insurance company ING
was a sponsor of the Renault F1 race.
The festival
highlight was an exhibition on VOC (Dutch
East India Company) coins and original sketches from
the book, Malacca Sketches, launched on the same
day
at Galeri Warisan in Jalan Laksamana.
Holland Days In
Melaka is part of the Netherlands
Embassy's year-long promotion themed Holland, More
Than Tulips. It featured a Dutch food promotion, a
cooking demonstration, a lecture on heritage
conservation, a performance by Dutch musical group
Kleintje Pils and a celebration of the life and works
of Rembrandt Van Rijn.
Read the
poems of John Tiong
Chunghoo in this issue of
Sketchbook.
