Ciao everyone. I am Muhammad Arman Hakimi Hairul Hisham.

You can
call me Arman. I am going to be 13 early January next year.
Today my friends and I are going to talk about strait of Malacca as
our version of Mediterranean sea as cradle of trade, culture and
civilization. What do you know about this strait? Anyone? Unlike the
gigantic mediterranean sea, - The Malacca Straits is a narrow stretch of
890km waterway that separates Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore . Do
not underestimate the size as it is one of the most crucial areas to global
trade.

Let me tell you why. As you can see the strait is narrow .The
narrowest point in the Strait is only 2.8 km wide, which creates a natural
bottleneck for shipping. Despite the possibilities of collisions, grounding,
or oil spills, it is a strategic link between Malaysia to Indonesia and the
main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

The other reason that makes the strait one of the most crucial choke
points in the world is it is the shortest sea route to move goods from the
Persian Gulf to Asian markets such as China Japan south Korea and the
Pacific Rim. Yes, it is one-third shorter than the closest alternative sea-
based route.

Of course this strait contributes to our country economic growth. The

trade across this strait makes us a rich country, famous over the world for
our tin, rubber and palm oil exports.

This is the crowd of vessels in the strait of Malacca. Next to it is the

The Melaka Straits Mosque , a religious place for muslims to perform
prayers. This is built on stilts above the sea.

The modern building of KLCC is located in the capital city of Kuala

Lumpur. Among the world's tallest telecommunications towers, making it a
major tourist attraction and a favourite for special occasions.

Interestingly, our country also produces its own car under the name
of Proton.  Proton was established in 1983 as Malaysia's sole national
badged car company .Now my friends will take over.
 Hi everyone! I am Sharifah. I am Balqis. We will talk about Straits of
Malacca as a cradle of trade, culture and civilization.

Teachers and friends,

Port Kingdom began to flourish along the Straits of Malacca as early as the
third century. Srivijaya, Majapahit, Malacca Sultanate , Portuguese and
Dutch took turn dominating this significant waterway. It was even used for
intercontinental trade since the times of Classical Greece and Rome.
(Sharifah)

Let me tell you what’s so special about this straits back then. First,
the Straits served as a place of transit and fresh supplies of goods and
provisions for long-distance voyages and a point of collection of all goods
from the archipelago, which were later distributed to traders from India and
China. (Balqis)

Traders from India had been trading with various ports in the Straits
to seek products such as gold, spices and medicinal herbs.. Now we can
see clearly why the straits of Malacca was vital to traders in the past and
even in the present time. (Sharifah)

The straits of Malacca is also a cradle of culture. Malacca, a historic

city of the straits of Malacca was greatly affected by this shipping route. It
became the centre of education, science and arts. Interestingly, the
influence of Asia and Europe have endowed the town with a specific
multicultural heritage. This is expressed in the great variety of religious
building of different faiths, ethnic quarters, the many languages, worships
and religious festivals, dances, costumes, art and music, food and daily
life. (Balqis)

According to a study carried out by Manguin in 2004, the

geographical characteristics of the Malay Peninsula, encouraged early
ports to flourish along its coasts. These early ports provided convenient
transit havens for those vessels waiting for the change of the monsoon
current to navigate through the Strait of Malacca to continue their voyage to
the other side of the ocean or wishing to connect with the overland passage
route through the Malay Peninsula. During the golden age of Malay
sultanate in the archipelago, Classical Malay became the lingua franca of
the Maritime Southeast Asia. Traders who travelled the straits used it as a
mean of communication. In addition , Jawi script became the primary
medium for cultural, religious and intellectual exchange.(Sharifah)

That’s all from us. Thank you.

My country, Malaysia, is a small independent country. Many races of people live

harmoniously together. There are Malays, Chinese, Indians and a sprinkling of
foreigners from Europe, America, Japan, Korea and the surrounding South East Asian
countries. Malaysians are noted for their friendliness and warm hospitality. Each race
carries on with its own way of life. Most of the people in large towns work in banks,
offices, government departments and firms. The young attend schools, colleges or
universities. Those in the rural areas work in paddy fields, vegetable plots, poultry
farms, rubber, coconut and oil palm estates or tin-mines and factories.

Malaysians, being of different races, can be seen on the streets in their various
costumes, adding color to the scene. The warm, sunny and wet climate throughout the
year makes Malaysia a tropical paradise. Visitors admire the green forested hills, the
golden beaches with graceful coconut palms fringing them, the blue sea and, of
course, the local cuisine. Foreign tourists find these places ideal for a holiday, as they
get away from their cold countries.

Besides, Malaysia's cool hill-resorts like Cameron Highlands, Fraser's Hill and
Genting Highlands make the day pleasant and refreshing, away from the hot lowlands.

Lastly, Malaysia is a rich country, famous the world over for its tin, rubber and palm
oil exports. Kuala Lumpur, the capital city, is the largest in Malaysia, with many
modern buildings. The international airport at Subang is always busy. I am proud of
my country which I love dearly.

- The Malacca Straits – the narrow stretch of 890km waterway that separates Indonesia,
Malaysia and Singapore – is one of the most crucial areas to global trade.

The main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.