Kampung Morten
A Malay Stilt Village That Survived Inside A UNESCO City, Named After The British Officer Who Paid For The Land The Community Was Moved Onto · Melaka, Melaka
EVERY VISITOR TO MELAKA SEES THE DUTCH SQUARE AND JONKER STREET. ALMOST NONE CROSSES THE RIVER TO THE MALAY VILLAGE THAT IS STILL THERE. KAMPUNG MORTEN IS A COMMUNITY OF TRADITIONAL MALAY HOUSES - raised on stilts, with the characteristic MELAKA STAIRCASE of glazed decorated tiles climbing to a front verandah - sitting on the riverbank in the middle of a UNESCO World Heritage city. IT IS NAMED AFTER J F MORTEN, A BRITISH DISTRICT OFFICER WHO PAID FOR THE LAND IN THE 1920s WHEN THE COMMUNITY WAS MOVED HERE, which is a more complicated origin than the label 'traditional village' suggests. PEOPLE LIVE IN THESE HOUSES. THERE IS A SMALL HOUSE-MUSEUM, VILLA SENTOSA, where a family shows you round their own home. THE RIVER CRUISE PASSES THE BACK OF IT and most passengers never realise they can walk in. Walk the lanes quietly and keep your camera out of doorways, come early or late for the light on the tiled staircases, and accept that Villa Sentosa may simply be shut - it is a family home with irregular hours rather than an institution.
Kampung Morten, Melaka City, Melaka, Melaka, Melaka, Malaysia
KAMPUNG MORTEN IS A TEN-MINUTE WALK FROM THE DUTCH SQUARE across the river, and there is NO GATE AND NO ADMISSION - IT IS A RESIDENTIAL VILLAGE and the lanes are public. WALK QUIETLY, DO NOT PHOTOGRAPH INTO HOUSES OR THROUGH WINDOWS, and understand that the verandahs are people's front rooms. VILLA SENTOSA, the house-museum, keeps irregular hours and is SHOWN ROUND BY THE FAMILY WHO LIVE THERE - there is no ticket desk, a donation is expected, and it may simply be closed. THE MELAKA RIVER CRUISE PASSES ALONG the back of the village and is a separate ticket from the main jetty. THE BEST LIGHT IS EARLY MORNING AND LATE AFTERNOON. It floods in heavy rain, being on the riverbank. Weekends bring far more people across the bridge.