Need to know Melaka Facts

Read up some simple facts of Melaka

Equip yourself with some useful Melaka facts for a better traveling experience to Melaka the Historical City of Malaysia. Let's start with the time in Malaysia!

Time in Melaka/Malaysia

Language

The most important must know Melaka facts will be the language. The official language is Bahasa Malaysia. However, English or Malaysian-English (Manglish) is widely spoken and understood.

It’s easy to differentiate Manglish, just watch out of the word “lah“ at the back of a word of sentences. For example: Okay-lah, Thank you-lah and no problem-lah. Other languages spoken by fellow Malaccan are Peranakan Language, Mandarin and Tamil.

Just to be on the safe side, you could always bring along a good “Bahasa Malaysia Language Directory“.

Another way is to print the Bahasa Malaysia words and sentences that I have translated. Please click the link and I hope that it will help you.

Melaka Population

Malacca has a population of over 800,000 as of 2008, consisting:

Malay: 57%
Chinese: 32%, including the Nyonya Baba community;
Indians, including the Chitty community
Kristang, people with partial Portuguese ancestry.

Religion

The official religion is Islam. Others religions like Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Christianity are practiced freely.

Prohibited Items

Drugs of any kind are considered illegal. Only prescription medicine is allowed. The same goes for firearms unless special license have been obtained from relevant authority.

Melaka /Malaysia Climate

The climate is generally warm and sunny during the day and cool during the night. Occasionally, we do have rain in the evening. The temperature ranges from 23oC to 33 oC with humidity that usually exceeds 82.3%.

Therefore, lightweight clothing is advisable. However, it is better to wear decently when visiting the places of worship.

Generally, it will be slightly windy three weeks prior to the Chinese New Year. The wind named “Angin Tahun Baru“(Chinese New Year Wind) by the local gives us a nostalgic feeling that Chinese New Year is around the corner!

Melaka Money Changers

It’s easy to locate the money changer in Melaka. Most of them are located at strategic places like Melaka Sentral, Mahkota Parade Shopping Complex, Dataran Pahlawan Shopping Complex and nearby tourist attraction places.

The Malaysia currency is known as Ringgit Malaysia(RM).The Malaysian banknotes are available in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100. Coins are in denominations 50, 20, 10, and 5 sen.

Credit and debit cards

American Express, Diner's Club, MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted.

Traveller’s Cheques

All banks, hotels and large departmental stores accept traveller's cheques. For your own convenience, carry travellers cheques in US Dollars, Euro or Pounds Sterling.