15th August 2011 is the 500 years anniversary of the fall of the Malay Kingdom of Melaka.

The fall of the Golden Age of the Malays. The day when the Europeans began the start of the colonisation of Southeast Asia (SEA). It was indeed fortunate for the Malays at that time that the ruling Sultan did survived the attack. Only to be killed by his father (the predecessor, who 'resigned' the post after the killing his newest wife's father and brother). The successor kingdom, Old Johor I (to distinguish it from the 'Old Johor II' of the Bendaharas) tried to regain the glory of Melaka but failed. The Feringgis (Portuguese) kept attacking and burning the cities that the Sultan founded. And then came the regicide of 1699. Thus perished the line of kings descended from Melaka, Singapura and Sriwijaya. The only line acknowledged as the "Emperor of the Malays" by Malay kingdoms on both side of the Straits. The Bendahara took to the throne, but was deserted by the Orang Lauts en massed. A pretender from Siak, claiming to be the dead king's son, rose like a whirlwind. Deserted by his traditional naval force, the Bendahara Sultan was forced to accept the Five Bugis Brothers offer of military assistance. The Bugis kept the Bendahara Sultan on his throne, however with them as the 'Yang Dipertuan Muda' (Junior Lord). Like Aetius and Stilicho, they were the holders of military power behind the de jure ruler. With the rise of the Bugis, came friction with the leading European coloniser at that period - Belanda (the Dutch). Led by one of their warlike leaders, the Bugis attacked Melaka (taken from the Feringgis by the Dutch earlier on) and nearly succeeded. If they had, kingdoms on both sides of the Straits would bow before them in submission. But such is not to be.. Thus, when the English came to Nusantara, this is what they saw the Malays as: divided into petty kingdoms, weak politically and militarily and having no leverage whatsoever. An ancient capital (Singapore) was 're-founded' and the dispossessed elder son of the late Sultan was made king, with his younger brother being the lord of those lands beneath Singapore Straits, recognised by the Dutch. A division made permanent by the Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1824. The Malay Peninsula and Singapore to the English, Riau Islands and Sumatra to the Dutch. How Permaisura would have wept to see his successor kingdom broken into two permanently. He did not escape the Majapahit Javanese just to found a kingdom to be the plaything of the Mat Sallehs. He

founded Melaka to be a supreme political power on the Straits, Siamese menace notwithstanding. But did this tragedy happened, you might asked? Well, it all started 500 years ago, back when the Feringgis atttacked Melaka.... --Anderiguru Bugis--