Villa Sentosa and the Melaka River Walk

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Just after lunch, I decided to visit Villa Sentosa, known as “The Malay Living Museum.” It’s a 100-year-old house in Kampung Morten, a heritage-protected village a few kilometers from Melaka’s Historic Town Square.

Although there are several ways to get to the Villa, including by taxi or hiring a bicycle, the means I’d decided on was to walk up the Melaka River until I reached one of the cruise ship hop-on points, catch one of the frequent cruise boats, and view the scenery from the river.

View of Melaka River

However, the more I walked along the Melaka River, the more I wanted to keep walking, as the scenery from the shore was quite a surprise and could be easily missed if seen from a fast-moving boat.

The surprise was that for much of the two kilometers or so on either side of the river up to Kampung Morten, many buildings, shops, and houses are covered in colourful and varied forms of street art.

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Shops with painted murals

But it wasn’t always so.

15 years ago, the Melaka River was a heavily polluted waterway used as a dumping ground for rubbish and a place where untreated sewage flowed.

There were no decent walkways along either side of the river, and weak or non-existent embankments resulted in frequent flooding. Obviously, there was no incentive to maintain the areas immediately behind the buildings that backed onto the river, which added to the general disrepair of the river.

However, local authorities decided that a full-scale rejuvenation of the river and its surrounds were in order. A multi-phased project was born to bring the river and its immediate neighborhood up to the state it is in today.

Some practical works included dredging up toxic sediment, establishing walkways along the river, strengthening the concrete river banks, and ending the flow of untreated sewage.

New walkways along the river

Then, in 2010, the Melaka River Art Project was established. Artists were commissioned to paint colorful murals on buildings to brighten up the area. This has continued, with many building facades transformed through various forms of art.

Painted Mural

Time for a cigar

side of building artwork on Melaka River

More art along the river

As a result of the rejuvenation, the river is now a lot busier than it used to be, with many more pedestrians and bicycle riders on the walkways and a constant stream of ferries and water taxis cruising up and down the river.

Melaka River Cruise

I never did catch one of the boats. I took my time, and over the next hour, I captured as many sights as I could along the river, including popping into the empty Pirate Park, until I reached Villa Sentosa.

Decorated Cafe

Portrait

Ferris wheel at Pirate Park

Villa Sentosa

Villa Sentosa (meaning Peaceful Villa) is located in the southeast corner of Kampung Morten, the heritage-protected village with over 50 traditional Malay houses.

Villa Sentosa

Walking through the front gate, I was greeted by an elderly lady, who is the current owner of the house and a descendant of the original owners.

Descendant of original owners

She gave an interesting room-by-room tour of the house which included a description of the previous way of life and a look at the many objects on display, including the original furniture, tableware, historic ceramics, and different types of dress.