The Royal Press presses on after nearly 90 years

The Royal Press, a letterpress printing house in Melaka founded by Ee Lay Swee in 1938, has been transformed by Ee Soon Wei into a museum for future generations. Originally, TRP produced calendars, liquor labels and other items in multiple languages, including romanised Malay, English, Jawi, Tamil and Chinese. After Lay Swee's passing, his wife and then his aunt took over the business.

However, by the 2010s, modern printing methods had diminished TRP's commercial work, and it ceased operations. Soon Wei decided to preserve the old printing house as a museum, restoring the old presses and showcasing the machines that once kept the business running. The museum now houses about 30 machines, including a hand-fed job platen and a Linotype Model 78, which demonstrates the evolution of typesetting.

TRP's collection of over 150,000 letter blocks allows visitors to understand the effort and patience required for manual letter setting. The museum also offers a stamping workshop where guests can create their own prints. Soon Wei hopes visitors will appreciate the time-consuming process of print production before modern technology.

The Royal Press is open daily from 10 am to 8 pm, with workshop sessions ending at 5 pm. Admission is free, but larger groups incur fees.