Kampung Jawa, Malacca

Kampung Jawa, as seen across the Malacca River (2 May 2009)


Kampung Jawa (GPS: 2.19893, 102.24978) is a Javanese settlement on the northern bank of the Malacca River. This settlement traces its beginnings to the Dutch period, and probably even earlier, when there was a constant stream of Javanese immigrants settling in Malacca. These people west mostly fishermen and traders. The place was variously spelled as Campong Java and Campon Jaio in various early documents.

The Javanese people originally created their settlement at the spot where Lorong Jambatan, Jalan Kampung Pantai and Long Hang Jebat converge today. They only moved across the river to the present site of Kampung Jawa in the beginning of the 18th century, when rising land prices, coupled with their declining influence within Malacca, precipitated the move.

1885 saw a major facelift for Kampung Jawa, when Malacca merchant Tan Hoon Guan initiated what was to become the first urban renewal project in the country. This was when Java Lane was built, and on either side of it, brick houses and shophouses. For that to happen, several kampung houses in the village, which was laid out to no particular order, had to make way.

In 1920, Kampung Jawa was once again marginalized, when the British decided to build a market in the area. In required the relocation of a good number of Kampung Jawa residents. A site further upriver was eventually identified, and in 1923, Kampung Morten was born. The market of Kampung Jawa was completed in 1924, and is still standing today, beside a bridge across the Malacca River that is known today as the Market Bridge.

Kampung Jawa is on the Map of Towns in Malacca

Kampung Jawa is on the Map of Malacca

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