Strait of Malacca shows signs of strain

Singapore Armed Forces Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles, seen covered in grey and blue tarpaulins, are unloaded following their arrival at the PSA West Coast terminal port in Singapore on January 30, 2017, after being impounded in Hong Kong last November.The armoured personnel carriers were impounded by Hong Kong Customs authorities in November 2016 while in transit from military exercises in Taiwan. Their release ends a diplomatic row that also involved China, which has sovereignty over Hong Kong and considers Taiwan a renegade island awaiting reunification. / AFP PHOTO / ROSLAN RAHMAN

THERE is much history surrounding the Strait of Malacca. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Strait bore witness to conquest after conquest of the Malacca Sultanate by marauding colonial powers. Firstly it was the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and later the British. The Japanese also had a taste of Malacca much later on.

We see the remnants left by those powers now. Some have become tourist attractions, earning the state of Malacca lucrative tourism receipts. This goes to show that history does sell when the time is right. And Malacca, being the most conquered of the many states in Malaysia, is now benefiting from the conflicts of the past!