Food for thought for the ethnographic soul at Stadthuys, the ethnographic museum of history at Malacca’s heritage district which has a 500 year history on par with Goa. Waves of globalisation started long ago, with the Dutch VOC, the first global MNC. The resource wars over spice are well documented in the Nutmeg’s Curse, by Dr Amitav Ghosh, a successor to his Berlin Family Lectures.

Malacca is a few hours by ferry to Sumatra, and no wonder the VOC had its imprint here. The museum covered a wide aperture, from Parameshwara to 1957. The connections to India were clear and deep and makes it’s evidently clear of its importance in the region.