JALAN
BENDAHARA
A NEW ROAD IN OLD MALACCA
(FORMERLY WOLFERSTAN ROAD)
Wolferstan Road, named after Littleton Edward Pipe Wolferstan, one of Malacca’s longest-serving heads of the Settlement (1866-1940), who stewarded Malacca’s infrastructure and commerce during his tenure.
In the 1920s the road became a main road connecting old Malacca town to the new Government quarters in. By the 1930s, the road was the town’s modern tributary, an impressive 50 ft wide avenue, where out-of-towners would need to wizz through this showcase of Malacca’s then thriving economy, boasting snazzy ‘talkies’ (cinemas) the Rialto and Capitol Theatre, alongside other entertainment spots Moon Cinema, Capitol Dance Hall, Lyric Theatre and a host of motorcade showrooms.
Up until the 1970s, the street also served the local community with its dry cleaners, tailors, dentists, photography studios, trade and charitable associations.
Wolferstan Road linked Riverside with the St Peter's Church. "It is perhaps needless to say that this road when completed will prove a great boon, for the congestion in the town is becoming almost unbearable." It was a road that represented the modernity of Malacca in the 1920s.
Besides theatres, motor car showrooms mushroomed up alongside. Photography studios, Central Hotel, and the infamous Meng Seng Charitable Association which was turned into a torture chamber during the Japanese occupation.
A NEW ERA BEGINS
Over time in recent years, with the influx of Indian-owned businesses, the road has become known as 'Little India.'
The recently restored St. Peter's Church, the newly developed Cheng Ho Cultural Space, Treasures Hotel and The Bendahari, all usher in a new era of old roots, new routes for Jalan Bendahara.
From Malacca, Voices from the Street, by Lim Huck Chin and Fernando Jorge.
