GREEK INFLUENCE IN MALAYSIA

Sculpture found within SEGI University College compound, Kota Damansara building. Here, the Greek style of architecture is used to create a set of statues that support a dome with their heads. As you can see, the upper part is actually a Corinthian column, originating from Greek Architecture as well, whereas the lower part of the column is represented by the statue and the added sculptured flower. The presence of a sculpture very similar to the Karyatides of Athens in the University enhances the idea of academic endeavour for the students.

Another picture taken from SEGI University College showing once again how the building is influenced by Greek Architecture. From the picture above, we can see the tall pillars located right in front of the building, which are known as Ionic columns- one of the most famous elements of ancient Greek architecture. 

This primary school building shown above has several elements that resemble Ionic columns, and also arches,which are similar to the temples of ancient Greece. The columns are built under the roof of the main entrance and the arched windows can be seen at the left side of the building. This school is known to be one of the finest buildings in Sarawak during the time it was built, as it was unique and different from the other buildings which were built with wood. 

The picture shown above is the cenotaph located on the same hill as Tugu Negara, The National Monument, in Taman Tasik Perdana, Kuala Lumpur, and is erected by British Administrators. The cenotaph is an empty tomb which is used honour those who died during World War I, World War II as well as the Civil War of 1948-1960. The Malaysian soldiers who died in battles for their country are remembered in this way. Cenotaphs were also erected in ancient Greece to honour those who fell in battle. The use of marble makes it even more similar to Greek architecture.

Segi College campus in Kota Damansara uses Greek elements to enhance its overall appearance. Most of its exterior combines modern university and classical Greek finishing. It gives students the feel of a scholar in a modern- day context. This shows that in Malaysia people appreciate the Ancient Greek Civilization as a knowledge- driven society.

Kuala Lumpur Library incorporates an Islamic dome and Greek library windows as its exterior. This gives a certain ambience to the structure, matching its role as a center of knowledge. Malaysians appreciate knowledge and don't hesitate to use various cultural influences in their academic buildings.

FTMS College has Greek Doric columns. Again they use it to emphasize on knowledge. This creates the appropriate atmosphere for the students, who enter a place of academic learning.

Perdana Putra in Putrajaya has a Greek library- like structure with Islamic dome. As the Prime Minister's office, this exterior portrays his leardership with knowledge and Islamic influence. 

Muzium Telekom is a Neo-Classical Greek architecture and the first interactive Museum in Malaysia.The buiding is located in Jalam Gereja, Kuala Lumpur. Before that, it was  the Central Battery Manual Telephone Exchange in 1928. Later, the building was intended to be demolished for the construction of a new 26-storey office complex; but the then Prime Minister suggested to maintain it because of its special history. 

The picture shown above is the National Stadium of Malaysia and below is the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, Greece. The Panathenaic stadium is the ancient model of athletics tracks that looks much like a hairpin. The National Stadium of Malaysia kept this standardized Greek design due to its effectiveness for sports and its seating capacity. In essence, the Malaysian National Stadium is built according to the finest sports standards of ancient Greece,being considered the best Stadium in the country.

Edited from : SOURCE

ANCIENT ROUTES ~ GREEK TRADE IN THE MALAY PENINSULA

“The beautiful vessels, the masterpieces of the Greeks, stir white foam on the Periyar River … arriving with gold and departing with pepper.”

These lines from an ancient Tamil poem “The Lay of the Anklet”, believed to have been written around 200 CE, tell of Greek triremes and trade ships arriving and departing from the rivers of south India. However, it remains tantalizingly uncertain today whether these same Greek  trade ships ever came that bit further west to trade directly with the west coast ports of the Malay Peninsula.

Certainly there is evidence the Greeks were well aware of the existence of the Malay Peninsula. The first known Greek reference to the peninsula is around 100 BCE, when it is referred to as “the Golden Khersonese”, which was a direct translation of “Suvarnabhumi” (Golden Island), the Indian name for the peninsula at the time.

The Greek geographer Strabo, writing around 20 BCE, tells us that most years a huge Greek trade fleet, numbering up to 120 ships, set off from the Red Sea to make the year-long trip to the Indies and because of this great trade, Strabo noted, “These regions have become better known to us today”.

The Greeks  established a series of permanent trade colonies in India. One was at Arikamedu on India’s Coromandel (southeastern) coast just a couple of weeks’ sail across the Bay of Bengal from Phuket, and was probably also regularly visited by Malay trading prows crossing over from the peninsula.

Indeed Malay sailors may also have directly visited Greek and Roman ports such as Berenike on the Red Sea. The Romans used the word “Seres” for Chinese or Asians from further east than India. A report from the Roman historian Julius Flores as early as the reign of the first Roman emperor Augustus (27 BCE– 14 CE) describes some “Seres” visiting the city of Rome itself: “Even the nations of the world not subject to the imperial sway were sensible of its grandeur … Thus the Scythians sent envoys … nay the Seres came likewise, and the Indians, bringing with them presents of pearls and elephants.”

However, according to the Chinese annals, the first Chinese man ever to reach the West was Gan Ying and this was in 97 CE, over a century after Flores’s account. So who were these earlier Seres in Rome with their “gifts of pearls and elephants”? (Both were common export items from the Malay Peninsula.) They may well have been Malays from the western peninsula – the nearest part of eastern Asia to Rome.

Around 140 CE, the Greek geographer Claudius Ptolemy wrote his compendium Geographia, which was essentially a travel guide for Greek sailors heading east to trade. In the Geographia, some of the physical features of the western Malay peninsular coast are described (although all with the wrong longitudes and latitudes). Ptolemy was a scholar, not a sailor, and most probably gathered his information in Egypt from returning Arab and Greek or possibly visiting Asian sailors. Ptolemy did note that the main trade emporium on the western Malay peninsular coast was a port called “Takola”. Takola is presumed by many scholars today to have been Takuapa, in Phang Nga, a Roman gold embossed cape province, just north of Phuket.

Ptolemy also makes mention of an island on the west of the peninsula called “Saline” which may have derived from Phuket’s old name of “Salang” or “Salon”. He noted that “In this Island there are a large number of shellfish and the inhabitants are always naked.”


Pliny the Younger, referring to the vast amounts of money the Romans spent on merchandise from these areas,says that “India is brought near to us by [the Roman traders’] lust for gain.” It is therefore quite possible that, in order to try and cut out the probably voracious Indian middlemen, these profit-seeking Greco-Arab and Roman ship captains would have sailed their ships a couple of weeks further east from India, in order to reach the markets of the Malay Peninsula directly.

EDITED FROM: The Phuket News