I was on a liquor-drenched party boat that was sailing in the Strait of Malacca, one of the busiest and most important shipping lanes in the world today, when I saw its namesake in the distance.

KUALA LUMPUR: Over 600 years ago, loyalty to the King proved to be the concept that helped build a Malay dynasty – the Malacca Sultanate which ruled the great entrepot of Malacca throughout its ...

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 ...