Rumah Banda Hilir (2)

Some photos to show what Rumah Banda Hilir looked like. It was built by my great-grandfather, Hj Mohd Sharif, circa 1896-1899. It had 3 sections - front, middle and rear. It was pretty when I lived there after I was born, from 1958 to 1963. When I returned to visit the house after I got married in 1983, the house was dilapidated and falling apart. The house was demolished in 2007. When I revisited the third time in 2016, the house was gone and a new extension of Masjid Banda Hilir (Masjid An-Nur) had taken over the site of Rumah Banda Hilir. I was shocked beyond belief!

Rumah Banda Hilir (front facade) in 1963. The house featured a wooden Minangkabau front facade with a white brick staircase, called 'tangga Melaka' (Malacca staircase). 



Rumah Banda Hilir. Inside the rear section in 1963.

Rumah Banda Hilir, 1983 onwards. The rear section at left was falling apart and overgrown with rose bushes. The front section with earthen roof tiles (genting batu) at right was still intact.

Rumah Banda Hilir, 1983 onwards. The front section was still intact. This photo shows a side profile of the front right section (anjung), with a typical white-washed brick Malacca stairs (tangga Melaka) at right.

Differently-styled roofs of Rumah Banda Hilir (front section). The roof on the left was more elaborate and looked like that of Rumah Minangkabau of West Sumatra, with 2 airholes for the attic (loteng). The roof on the right was the less elaborate roof of the anjung - visitor's entrance and holding area.

Middle section of Rumah Banda Hilir with white brick walls, Chinese-styled white staircase (tangga Melaka) and white-washed wooden Dutch door. This middle section was always whitewashed and had always been painted white. The middle section separated and also joined the front section to the rear section. Behind the Dutch door was a large brick (cement) floor which served as a clothes drying area (tempat sidai baju). The middle section had a large bathroom with an adjoining pool (kolam) and a small green Chinese porcelain window was added in the 1960s (I could tip-toe to view Masjid Banda Hilir while bathing). The pool was half in the bathroom and half outside the bathroom - the part of the pool outside was always covered. The middle section had no roof except over half the bathroom and fully covered the kitchen wash area. The building at right is the front section of the house (nearest and facing Masjid Banda Hilir). Some red croton plants were planted around the entire periphery of the house.

Rumah Banda Hilir (1)

Rumah Banda Hilir was an old house adjoining Masjid Banda Hilir, where I had lived after I was born. According to Bapak, the hind (rear) portion of Rumah Banda Hilir was built first, and then the front portion. And that was why the rear portion looked more worn out, more dilapidated and older than the front portion. Bapak said the entire house did not use nails or screws. The rear portion used thatched roof (bumbung atap) while the front portion used small red-orange brick roof tiles as used in most town houses during that era. The entire house was on stilts, and there were large stone bases to hold the stilts. The stone bricks are the same ones used to make the Portuguese fort, A Famosa.

History has it that when the Portuguese attacked and conquered Malacca on 15 August 1511, they destroyed the mosques there and used the stones for making A Famosa. Thus, the same stones can be found in Rumah Banda Hilir and A Famosa.

The stones could have come from the distant hills. Some archaeological research needs to be done to locate the source of the stones/rocks to make A Famosa. Carbon-dating and rock-dating will be needed to know how old these stones/rocks are and where they came from (what period and source).

The only archaeologist I know is Bapak's relative, Professor Zuraina Majid, the youngest sister of Datuk Paduka Ruby Majid. I met her twice, once during my wedding in Penang and another when she was in the interview panel (I didn't know she was going to be in the panel anyway). I have to trace and see where she is today.

Long time ago, Bapak said that one of Datuk Alang's daughters did Architecture and had used Rumah Banda Hilir for her project. I could have been in secondary school when I heard this from Bapak. However, when I asked Mak Cik Jamilah (isteri Pak Cik Hassan), she said there is no such daughter doing Architecture nor has worked on Rumah Banda Hilir for her project. So I don't know what is real or unreal but that was what happened. All I know, Rumah Banda Hilir was studied by someone but I have no clue who studied that house. Maybe I can ask UiTM to look through its collection of students' projects and find out more details about Rumah Banda Hilir.

Masjid Bandar Hilir 1820 (0)

MOSQUE RENOVATIONS 2007

Masjid Bandar Hilir was built circa 1820, so said the govt page at http://www.islamgrid.gov.my/mosque/detailed.php?id=3001.

Maklumat Lanjut

No Daftar: MY-04-MT-00118
Nama Masjid: MASJID BANDAR HILIR
Alamat: KM 1.5, BANDA HILIR, 75000 MELAKA

Masjid Banda Hilir ini dibina kali pertamanya dalam tahun 1820 dan pada tahun 1960 masjid ini dibaharui dengan belanja orang ramai.

Where did they get the information?

Who then rebuild the mosque after WWII? Bapak did. With whose $? I don't know.

Who lived next to Masjid Bandar Hilir? Our ancestors, 8 generations of them. They were Arabs from Hadramaut in Yemen (orang dari Yaman).

Where are the graves of these early Yemeni people who came to Malacca? In the graveyard of Masjid Semabok as Masjid Bandar Hilir only had a small plot of land for the graves and that was relocated elsewhere when I lived there till I was 5 (1958-1963). My ancestors lived beside Masjid Bandar Hilir but were buried in the graveyard of Masjid Semabok.

1820 was the Dutch era in Malacca, just prior to its handing over to the British.

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Photos of Masjid Banda Hilir
Masjid An-Nur Banda Hilir

All photos are from Bapak's pendrive which I obtained in 2011. He died in 2009.

Projek: Kerja-Kerja Membaikpulih Masjid An-Nur Banda Hilir, Melaka. Kontraktor: AZH Puncak Bakti Enterprise. Pegawai Penguasa: PERZIM. Tarikh Mula: 22 Januari 2007. Tarikh Siap: 2 April 2007

Projek Penyelenggaraan Infrastruktur Asas/Awam Luar Bandar Tahun 2007. Nama Kontraktor: Syahrizan Jaya Enterprise (Lesen Pendaftaran: MA 0062048-T). Nama Projek: Membaikpulih Masjid Lama Banda Hilir (DUN Bandar Hilir). Tarikh Mula Projek: 17 Mei 2007. Tarikh Siap Projek: 17 Jun 2007.

After renovation. The building at right is the old one.

Masjid Banda Hilir is now renamed to Masjid An Nur but we still call it Masjid Banda Hilir

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TANAH WAKAF MASJID BANDA HILIR
Lot 96
Kg Banda Hilir


Saiz Lot 96 ialah kawasan tanah wakaf Masjid Banda Hilir.

Kawasan Masjid Banda Hilir (Lot 96) berukuran 43771 kaki per segi (43771 sq ft). Bahagian hadapan didirikan Masjid Banda Hilir pada 1820.

Selepas Masjid ialah rumah Hj Mohd Sharif bin Ismail beralamat 262-T Banda Hilir,

Kemudian rumah Nenek Ani bersambung dan berkongsi dinding dengan rumah bapanya.

Kemudian bangsal Nenek Jah.

Kemudian rumah Mak Sarah.

Kemudian rumah Nenek Ya (Ya Tampin).

Jamban dibuang keseluruhanny apabila jamban baru dalam rumah telah dibina pada 1972-73.

Belakang rumah Mak Sarah ialah rumah Pak Habib.

Kemudian rumah zink pekerja Cina (Chinese labourers).
Mereka menetap dan menyewa rumah2 zink berpintu kayu yang dibina, serta kepunyaan Hj Mohd Sharif. Setelah beliau meninggal dunia, dan selepas 1960-an, mereka enggan membayar sewa rumah dan enggan keluar daripada rumah sewa mereka. Mereka mendakwa rumah zink berkenaan mereka punya. Rumah zink telah berubah rupa menjadi rumah batu kekal. Namun mereka tetap penduduk haram dan menduduki tanah wakaf secara haram. Tanah yang mereka duduki telah lama diwakafkan oleh keturunan Hj Mohd Sharif bagi Masjid Banda Hilir. Jadi Jawatankuasa Masjid perlu mengguna jalan sedia ada (menerusi perintah mahkamah) untuk mendapatkan semula tanah wakaf Hj Mohd Sharif yang diduduki oleh orang2 Cina iaitu tanah wakaf Masjid Banda Hilir. Kegagalan mendapatkan semula tanah wakaf ini merugikan pihak Masjid Banda Hilir kerana tidak dapat dibangunkan untuk kegunaan Masjid.

Bahagian pink = peta Lot 96 overlap dengan Google Map data (tidak mengikut skala)

A = Bahagian Masjid dan rumah2 sedia ada dalam kawasan pagar Masjid

B = Kawasan Tanah Wakaf Masjid yang diduduki secara haram oleh orang2 Cina sejak dahulu (1960-an).

Peta tidak mengikut skala