PORT Quéda, as Kuala Kedah was called in French in the 17th and 18th centuries, saw extraordinary developments in the early relations between France and Malaysia.
Indeed, as one of the first ports of call at the entrance of the Straits of Malacca for ships sailing from Europe, Port Quéda was a most convenient place for the early trade in spices.
French merchants would stop there to buy the famous pepper grown on the island of “Lancahuy” or Pulau Lada.
A mission was organised to Kuala Kedah by French botanist Pierre Poivre in 1768, on behalf of the French king, to gather seedlings of nutmeg and clove to grow on the newly discovered French islands of the Indian Ocean.
In 1781, Kuala Kedah witnessed a momentous event in the relations between France and Malaysia. Siam expelled Catholic missionaries from Phuket. French priests and their local followers were looking for a hospitable place in the vicinity to take refuge and it was the sultan of Kedah who offered it.
Not only did the ruler let in this small community, he also offered a piece of land in Kuala Kedah for them to establish their homes and church.
That was a remarkable early example of religious tolerance and hospitality, which till today is an important feature of Malaysia.
In 1786, the community moved to Penang and settled down in the newly created George Town.
Father Garnault, appointed as bishop (Lebuh Bishop in Penang was named after him), started a church and a school. This was the beginning of a vast movement by French missionaries to establish schools in Malaya in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
It is a little known fact that Kuala Kedah served as the first landing point on the peninsula for French Catholic missionaries, who created more than 100 schools in Malaysia, including in Kedah. These include Convent schools like St Nicholas in Alor Star, St Anne in Kulim and Father Barré in Sungai Petani, and La Salle schools such as St Michael in Alor Star, St Patrick in Kulim and St Theresa in Sungai Petani.
But there are other angles, of course, to the history of France and Kedah. Cooperation in archeology is one. In 1959, a temple in Bujang Valley was reconstructed at the request of newly independent Malaysia by a team of historians from the French School of the Far East because they were familiar with similar temples in Angkor, Cambodia.
Culture and education continue to be a strong part of Kedah-France relations.
French language is taught in four secondary schools in Kedah and the French language website on Malaysian literature — https://lettresdemalaisie.com/ — is curated from Langkawi.
Trade and industrial relations thrive beyond pepper and spices.
French investments focus on renewable energy, with the Saint-Gobain factory in Kulim providing glass for solar panels, and automotive, with Group PSA partnering with Naza Group in Gurun to export “Made in Kedah” Peugeot and Citroen cars to Southeast Asia.
There is a lot more than meets the eye, and still a lot more to discover in the past and present links between France and Kedah. It is time to sail again to Port Quéda.
FREDERIC LAPLANCHE
French ambassador to Malaysia