The "Kristang" are a creole Eurasian ethnic group of people of mixed Portuguese and Malaccan descent based in Malaysia and Singapore.
The creole group arose in Malacca (Malaysia) in the 16th century, when the city was a port and base of the Portuguese who came to Malacca in 1511. Some descendants speak a distinctive Kristang language (Cristao), a creole based on Portuguese. They are usually classified as Eurasians or "Serani" (in Bahasa Malaysia or Malay Language).
I was 7 years old when May 13th (1969) occurred. We lived in the Pekililing Flats in Kuala Lumpur (that particular block still stands although there were a few blocks that have been torn down already if I'm not mistaken) at the time. This area was just a stone's throw away for the Chow Kit Area, which is often thought of as one of the main areas where the "trouble" started.
I remember my Dad picked me up from my school (St. John's Primary at Bukit Nanas) & we caught a Taxi to go home (I found this odd as we usually took the bus). Also my Mum usually picked me up from school but she was alreday almost due to give birth to my youngest sister (who was born on the 31st of May 1969).
Some memories are vague but I still remember (either that evening or the next evening) a lot of commotion & people shouting outside our door. I dread to think why they were shouting. I also remember the Curfew that was enforced but I can't remember how long the Curfew lasted. In the evenings my Dad used to go out to the shops near by to buy food & other groceries.
I also remember listening my parents talking (when I was supposed to be sleeping!) about certain sencless atrocities that they heard being committed. In short, it was a scarry time & I hope we never see another incident happen like that happen in Malaysia again. However, we can't just hope. We have to pray & work together towards a better Malaysia, so that the May 13 will only be remembered as a bad memory & nothing else.
Click on the followingLink to take you to Anas Zubedy's Blog for his Unity Series - Let's recolor May 13 http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com/
Please also take a few minutes to check out the Sun Daily's article today - End fear of 'May 13'
Where over a 100 civil society groups called on the government to make May 13 a day to cherish peace, reason and freedom, instead of a date which continuously creates fear in the society.
Today is Mother's Day. So in honour of my mum, my wife & all the mums out there who sacrifice daily for us all, I thought I'd write a short article on Mother's Day. Turns out, it's actually a pretty sad story!
Ann Reeves Jarvis organized the "Mothers' Day Work Clubs" in West Virginia in 1858 to improve sanitary conditions & help improve the terrible infant mortality rate of her community. Ann herself had 13 children, out of which only 4 made it to adulthood! Ann died in 1905 on the Second Sunday of May.
On the 2nd Sunday of May in 1907, one of Ann's daughters, Anna Jarvis organized a small service in honour of her mum at the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton West Virginia. In 1908 the first formal Mother's Day is celebrated at the same church in Grafton & also with another much bigger celebration in Philadelphia. Anna distributes white carnations at the Grafton Service. In 1910, the Governor of West Virginia makes Mother's Day an Official Holiday on the 2nd Sunday of May.
In 1912 Anna Jarvis creates the Mother's Day International Association and Trademarks the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day". Basically, she wanted Mother's Day to be celebrated in a very private way to acknowledge all that a mother does for her family. You will notice that the apostrophe in "Mother's Day" which makes it a "singular possessive" and not "plural possessive". In 1914 US President Woodrow Wilson makes Mother's Day a National Holiday. In 1915, Canada follows suit by making Mother's Day an Official Holiday too.
Shortly after 1915, Anna Jarvis notices that the Florist, Card and Candy Industries cashing in on the Mother's Day Holiday. Even "Public Interests Groups" were using this day to make Political Statements! Anna Jarvis began endorsing open boycotts against the Florist Industry in 1922. Basically, Anna Jarvis began "fighting" against these establishments over the next 22 years, ending in her being committed to the Marshall Square Sanitarium in 1944! She spent most of her money fighting legal battles over the holiday she started. In fact in the 1940's she even threatened to end this holiday. In 1948 Anna Jarvis died at the age of 84, alone and penniless (she never made any money from the holiday she created), and probably the worst thing of all she was childless.
Come to think of it, Anna had the right idea! Just look at how this day is commercialized today. So, maybe on this day, when we celebrate with our own mothers to thank them for the many sacrifices that they have done for us over the years, we should take some time to remember the woman who started it all and ended up pretty much alone & without any thanks!
I came across the following beautiful Kristang poem & its English translation. I have no idea who wrote it or when was it composed. If you know its origins or if you know someone who might know of its origins, please let me know.
Poem of Malacca
KengtengfortunaficahnaMalaka,
Nangkerehpartihbaiotrutera.
Prakitudujentitengamizadi,
Kontupartih logo ficahsaudadi.
Ó Malaka, teradi San Francisku,
Ntenotruteraki yo kereh.
Ó Malakaunditengsemprifresku,
Yo kerehficahatihmoreh.
English translation:
Who is lucky stays in Malacca,
Doesn't want to go to another land.
In here everyone has friendship,
When one leaves soon has saudade (saudade or saudades is a Portuguese and Galician word for a feeling of nostalgic longing for something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost).
I grew up speaking mainly English at home. We learnt Malay at school. As for PapiaKristang (Kristang Language), we usually only had the chance to hear it spoken when visiting my Grandparents home or homes of our relatives. When we were very young, my parents used to visit relatives at the Portuguese Settlement (in UjongPasir) in Malacca. Obviously almost everyone there spoke Kristang.
Although I may recognize many Kristang words, unfortunately I would not be able to string a few Kristang sentences to save my life! Pretty sad as Kristang is really a very beautiful language (if I do say so myself) & many of the younger generation that live outside the Portuguese Settlement would not not know a Kristang word if it bit them in the nose!
There has been some effort to keep the Kristang Language alive & as an example please refer to the attached article from "The Star Online" (Aug 1st 2007) Reviving Kristang language
Not many Malaysian Portuguese Kristangs (let alone other Malaysians) know that familiar Malaysian words like "aiyoh" & "alamak" are actually Kristang words!
Efforts like these need to be continuously encouraged & helped, especially by the Eurasians of Portugese descent, not only in Malacca but those that have migrated to other parts of Malaysia, Singapore & elsewhere (e.g. these is quite a sizable community in Perth, which has increased over the years due to migration from Malaysia).
A short history of the language (taken mainly from Wikipedia) is as follows:-
The Kristang language originated after the conquest of Malacca (a state in Malaysia) in 1511 by the Potuguese. The community of speakers descends mainly from marriages between Portuguese settlers and local Malay women, as well as a certain number of migrants from Goa, themselves of mixed Indian and Portuguese ancestry. Kristang had a substantial influence on Macanese, the creole language spoken in Macau, due to substantial migration from Malacca after its takeover by the Dutch. Even after Portugal lost Malacca and almost all contact in 1641, the Kristang community largely preserved its language. The language is not taught at school, although there are still some Church (Catholic) services in Portuguese.
Its grammatical structure is similar to that of the Malay Language (the National Language of Malaysia). Malay is a group of languages closely related to each other to the point of mutual intelligibility but that linguists consider to be separate languages. Because of its largely Portuguese vocabulary, and perhaps also as a result of migrations and cultural exchange along trade routes, Kristang has much in common with other Portuguese-based creoles, as well as with the extinct creoles of Indonesia and East Timor.
Since the Kristang language was never though in school, it is predominantly an "oral language" passed down from one generation to the next. As I grow older, I guess the longing to ensure that this great Kristang Culture (of which I am a part of and have always been proud of but never really helped pass on) of which the language is so important, is passed on to future generations. I hope my fellow PortugueseEurasians will help keep this beautiful language alive & well so that our children & children's children will know from where they came & the proud heritage of which they are descended from.
Just to start off my Blog, I would like to give a brief introduction about the Kristang History, especially in Malaysia.
The Kristang are a creole Eurasian ethnic group of people of mixed Portuguese and Malaccan descent based in Malaysia and Singapore. Many people of this ethnicity also have Chinese, Indian and other Asian heritage due to intermarriage, which was common among the Kristang. The creole group arose in Malacca (Malaysia) after the Portugese came to Malaysia in 1511 and made Malacca their base. Some descendants speak a distinctive Kristang language, a creole based on Portuguese. Today the government classifies them as Portuguese Eurasians or "Serani" (Malay).
Papiá Kristang ("Christian language"), or just Kristang, is the creole language that is spoken by the Kristang people. The language is also called Cristão or Cristan ("Christian"), Português de Malacca ("Malacca Portuguese"), or simply Papiá. The language still has a few thousand (approximately 5,000) speakers in Malacca and a few hundred (400) in Singapore. About 80% of the older Kristang in Malacca regularly speak it, where the "Portugese Settlement" (in Ujong Pasir, Malacca) is situated. Due to migration by the younger generation of Kristang, many have moved to the other states in Malaysia.
Kristang is also spoken by some immigrants and their descendants in the United Kingdom, where some settled after independence, and also in Australia. In particular the city of Perth, Western Australia, which is a popular destination for retirees from this community.
The Kristang language had a substantial influence on Macanese. Macau Creole is a creole language derived mainly from Malay, Sinhalese, Cantonese, and Portuguese, which was originally spoken by the Macanese community of the Portuguese colony of Macau, due to substantial migration from Malacca after its takeover by the Dutch
Even after Portugal lost Malacca and almost all contact in 1641, the Kristang community largely preserved its language. The language is not taught at school, although there are still some Church services in Portuguese, made up of elements of Portugese & Malay. Furthermore, the Malay language, or Bahasa Malaysia, as it is now called in Malaysia, has changed to incorporate many Kristang words. For example, garfu is Kristang for "fork" and almari is Kristang for "cupboard"; the Malay language incorporated these Kristang words whole.
The Kristang language originated after the conquest of Malacca (Malaysia) in 1511 by the Portuguese. Thus, scholars believe the Kristang community originated in part from liaisons and marriages between Portuguese men (sailors, soldiers, traders, etc.) and local native women. The men came to Malacca during the age of Portuguese explorations, and in the early colonial years, Portuguese women did not settle in the colony. Portuguese men married mostly women of Malay ethnicity, but also those of Chinese or Indian descent. Today intermarriage occurs more frequently between Kristang and people of Chinese and Indian ethnicity rather than Malay because of endogamous religious laws. These require non-Muslims intending to marry Malay Muslims or Indian Muslims first to convert to Islam. Eurasians are not always willing to alter their religious and cultural identity in this way. In earlier centuries, Portuguese and local Malays were able to marry without such conversions, because such religious laws did not exist.
It is wrong to use the name "Kristang" for other people of mixed European and Asian descent presently living in Malaysia and Singapore (this is a common mistake). This includes people of Portuguese descent who were not part of the historical Kristang community, and people with other European ancestry, such as Dutch or British, who also colonized southeast Asia at one time (after the Portugese came).
The name comes from the Portuguese creole kristang (Christian), derived from the Portuguese cristão. A derogatory term for the Portuguese-Malaccan community is Gragok (slang term for Portuguese geragau or shrimp, referring to the fact that the Portuguese Malaccans were traditionally shrimp fishermen). The community historically called themselves gente Kristang (Christian people).
This article is licenced under the GNU Free DocumentationLicence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Kristang people.
