Strait of Malacca is Malaysia’s Mediterranean Sea as a Cradle for Trading, Culture and

Civilization.

Trading

The Straits of Malacca is the main shipping channel between the Indian

Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, it is one of the most important shipping
lanes in the world and named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled
over the archipelago between 1400 and 1511.Ships have passed
through it for centuries, and trading posts grew up from an early stage,
which simultaneously became centres of education, science and art.
People with different religious backgrounds – Hindu monks, Christian
priests, Muslim scholars – from many regions of the world met here.
There was lively exchange about navigation techniques and the art of
shipbuilding.The seaport of Malacca was conquered by Portuguese in
1511 and the Dutch in 1640. This has proven how important the strait is
as a trading hub.

Today, t he Straits of Malacca  is one of the most important shipping

waterways in the world from both an economic and a strategic
perspective. As the shortest shipping channel between the Indian Ocean
and the Pacific Ocean, it links major economies such as Middle East,
China, Japan, and South Korea.

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Culture
Being in a multiracial country, Malaysia sure is a combination of a lot of
cultures. Some of them is living inside of each and every races while
some of them are being brought by people from outside of Malaysia into
this country. Some of this beautiful kaleidoscope of cultures and colors
are being brought in by traders, people who settled down in Malaysia
due to trading activities back in the days, through cross marriage and so
much more.

Back then, Islam was brought in due to the influence of traders from the
middle east and the Arabic countries. Usually these traders stopped here
from their journey making this port as a pitstop for quite some times. As
the result they would preach Islam and Islamic cultures, nurture them
with care and spread the belief across the strait. That being said,
Malaysia’s official religion nowadays is Islam. We also have a set of law
that is based on Islam. Aside from that one, the federal constitution of
Malaysia is also influenced by Islamic culture. For instance, the usage of
the word of ‘Raja’ (King) and ‘Permaisuri’ (Queen) had been replaced to
‘Sultan’ and ‘Sultanah’.

Moving on, cultural senses are also derived from cross marriage just like
what I’ve mentioned earlier. For instance, ‘menepung tawar’; the action
of throwing rice that has been covered with turmeric powder to brides
and grooms in belief to chase away bad lucks in marriage; is derived
from Indian culture but now is being implemented in Malay culture.
Civilization
Civilization sparked its light long before the port in strait of Malacca even
exist, however, it is believed that the existence of that port strengthens
and influences the civilization that has been around for hundreds of
years. For a quick instance, the presence of Islam from preachers of that
port, started the implementation of sharia law. Aside from that one, it is
also believe that a lot of handwriting sets had been derived from the
activities that once occurred in the strait of Malacca.

As mentioned earlier, sharia law has been around since Islam made its
way in Malaysia. We all know that law is a basis in civilization of one
country; it is proven that a country is civilized when a set of law came
across. As in the case in Malaysia, our judiciary system had been
influenced that we combined the civil law and sharia law under one
civilization. Unlike other countries, we have two sets of different law.
That is not the case in other Islamic countries, most of the times, they
are solely using sharia law. As of for western countries, they are solely
using civil law. However, as the civilization had been influenced back
then in the strait of Malacca, Malaysia is holding the core of having two
sets of law.

Let us go into depth on how handwriting derived from the activities in this
port. Immigrants from every inches of the world, would usually be found
in this particular port back in the days. Immigrants like Chinese, Indian,
Burmese, Arabians, and so much more can be found here. It is
significant to note, that as a result from this collision, arabic, chinese,
indian and our normal alphabets scriptures, are widely used in Malaysia
nowadays. This is how Malaysia’s civilization had been influenced by the
activity in the port.
 the
second-largest oil trade chokepoint in the world after the Strait of Hormuz. Petroleum and other liquids
transiting the Strait of Malacca increased for the fourth time in the past five years in 2016, reaching 16
million barrels per day (b/d).
The Strait of Malacca, which flows between Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, connects the Indian
Ocean with the Pacific Ocean through the South China Sea. It is the shortest sea route between
Persian Gulf suppliers and key Asian markets.

At its narrowest point in the Phillips Channel of the Singapore Strait, the Strait of Malacca is only
about 1.7 miles wide, creating a natural bottleneck with the potential for collisions, grounding, or oil
spills. According to the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre, piracy, including
attempted theft and hijackings, is a threat to tankers in the Strait of Malacca.

Early traders from Arabia, Africa, Persia, and the Southern Indian kingdoms 

Location
The Malacca Straits – the narrow stretch of waters that
separates Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Strait of
Malacca, waterway connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean)
and the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean). It runs between the
Indonesian island of Sumatra to the west and peninsular
(West) Malaysia and extreme southern Thailand to the east and has
an area of about 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km).
As the link between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, the
Strait of Malacca is the shortest sea route
between India and China and hence is one of the most heavily
traveled shipping channels in the world. 
this strait is protected from monsoon wind as it is located outside of the equator unlike the
strait in the neighboring countries such as the strait of Makassar.

The climate of the strait is hot and humid 

Goods
25% of the world’s oil comes via the Straits, transporting more
than 15 million barrels of oil per day. Both China and Japan’s
economies rely heavily on the Strait of Malacca, with over 80% of
China’s oil imports by sea, and 60% of Japan’s total oil imports
come via the straits. Not too mention all the IndoMie that gets
lovingly delivered across the world.
This strait is famous for its strategic geographical location. According to geologist, this strait
is located in between south east asia and the west. Meaning to say, any traders from either
side, would make this strait as a pitstop for them. I would also like to take into account that
this strait is protected from monsoon wind as it is located outside of the equator unlike the
strait in the neighboring countries such as the strait of Makassar.

Aside from that one, the port in Malacca is also equipped with technical advancements from
technology, making it very convenient for traders to stop by and make sure that their ship is
ready to continue their journey.

Moving on, it is also best to note that this strait is taking the Strait of Gothenburg in Sweden
as its model. As per said, the strait is constantly upgrading tools and stuff for betterment
making it aligned with the need of the current port.

The Strait of Malacca (Malay: Selat Melaka, Indonesian: Selat Malaka, Thai: ช่องแคบ

มะละกา, Tamil: மலாக்கா நீரிணை, Chinese: 马六甲海峡) or Straits of Malacca is a narrow,
550 mi (890 km) stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) and
the Indonesian island of Sumatra.[2] As the main shipping channel between the Indian
Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, it is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. It is
named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1400 and 1511.