I climbed up to the hill on which St. Paul's Church stood. As I went up, the church came into my sight. The first thing which caught my eye was the statue of St. Francisco Xavier, whose right hand had been broken by tree branches in stormy weather. Mysteriously, the present mummy of St. Francisco Xavier in Goa in India lacks his right hand. Was the defect of the right hand of the statue done deliberately or accidentally or by God? Anyway, according to the information board, the church began only as a chapel. It was built by a Portuguese sea captain as a way of giving thanks for surviving an enemy attack while sailing the South China Sea. Thanks to St. Francisco Xavier, the church became well-known globally. He was accommodated in it during his stay in Malacca in the middle of the 16th century, and his body was laid to rest here for 9 months waiting for the westward wind to move his body to Goa in India, where he had wanted to stay forever himself.
I was able to view the Malacca Strait clearly from the top of the hill. That day's morning heavy rain seemed to sweep the haze away completely and then I fully understood the words which our tour guide told us this morning; "This heavy rain will favor you guys."
When I flew into the Kuala Lumpur International Airport a few days ago, I overlooked the strait and found four container ships. The strait looked not so narrow for them as I had heard before, but it would be narrow for enormous and deep-draft ships.
This strait is the main artery of the energy bound for Japan. I'm really afraid of the Chinese military presence in the South China Sea. If it would be completed, all the tankers would have to detour through Lombok channel and it would send oil prices soaring in Japan. It would surely cause a recession.
Now, we walked toward the ruin of St. Paul's Church. Before entering, I touched the outer wall of the church, which had been exposed to the weather and survived it for more than 500 years. That evoked my feelings of nostalgia. I was at the right place which I had learned about in history class in my high school days. I wasn't able to even imagine at that time that I would be able to visit Malacca. I'll write about the inside in the next entry.
(Vocabulary)
draft 喫水
Selat Lombok (channel) ロンボク海峡
マレーシア旅行記：（まだまだまだ続きます）
セントポール教会へと丘を登った。教会が見えてきた。まず目に飛び込んでくるのがザビエル像。像の右手はある嵐の日に木の枝が当たり折れたらしい。これは現在のザビエルのミイラの状況と奇妙に一致している。自然(神)によるものなのか、人為的なものなのか、、、、さて、設置されている案内板によると、この教会は、敵からの攻撃を生き抜くことが出来たことに感謝してポルトガル人船長により建てられたものとのこと。これほど有名になったのはザビエルが滞在し、死後彼の遺体が９ヶ月間安置されたことによる。
丘の上からはマラッカ海峡が見えた。クアラルンプール到着時、飛行機からマラッカ海峡を通航する４隻のコンテナ船を見た。そのときはマラッカ海峡は意外に広く感じたが、大きなコンテナ船にとっては狭いのだろう。それにしても遠くまでよく見える。朝の雨で煙や靄が消えたためという。この海峡が日本のエネルギーを運ぶ大動脈。南シナ海をシナに押さえられたら、タンカーはずっと東のロンボク海峡あたりを通らなければならなくなる。そうなったら輸送コストが大幅に増大し、生活が厳しくなるだろう。
教会の建物に向かった。入る前に外壁に触れてみた。５００年以上風雨に耐えてきた、ザビエルも触れたかも知れない外壁。突然、高校時代の歴史の授業が脳裏に浮かんだ。当時、まさかここを訪れることが出来るとは夢にも思えなかったが、今自分はその歴史の舞台に立っている、、、、なんという幸せ。
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