Poem of Malacca

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

Keng teng fortuna ficah na Malaka,

Nang kereh partih bai otru tera.

Pra ki tudu jenti teng amizadi,

Kontu partih logo ficah saudadi.

Ó Malaka, tera di San Francisku,

Nten otru tera ki yo kereh.

Ó Malaka undi teng sempri fresku,

Yo kereh ficah atih moreh.

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).

Oh Malacca, land of Saint Francis,

There is no other land that I want.

Oh Malacca, where there's always freshness,

I want to stay here until I die.

Papia Kristang - Use it or lose it!

I grew up speaking mainly English at home. We learnt Malay at school. As for Papia Kristang (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 Ujong Pasir) 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 Portuguese Eurasians 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.

The Amazing Kristang People - a short history

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.