KristangCulture

Kristang
Culture
P R E P A R E D B Y S A M A N T H A C H A N S U W E E

C O N T E N T S
01 INTRODUCTION
02 HISTORY
03 TIMELINE
04 PAST
05 LANGUAGE
06 RELIGION
07 FESTIVAL

08 MUSIC & DANCE
09 CUISINE
10 PRESENT
11 CHALLENGES &
OPPORTUNITIES

" HAVE YO
HEARD O
KRISTA

U EVER
PAPIA
NG ? "

I N T R O D U C T I O N
Who are they ?
The name 'Kristang' comes from the word Christian,
cristão in Portuguese. Kristang is a creole ethnic group
which has existed for 500 years are descendant of
mixed Portuguese and Malaccan decent in 16th and
17th century. This heritage arose during the
colonization of Portuguese Empire. They are usually
known as 'Portuguese-Eurasians' and 'Malacca
Portuguese'.

H I S T O R Y
In 16th century, due to the superior location of Malacca
Straits, Malacca became one of the major destination of
Portugal sea expeditions and It eventually was Colonized
by the Portuguese Empire in 1511. Due to superstition about
women on ships, Portuguese women were forbidden from
travelling overseas. To strengthen settlement, the
Portuguese government encouraged their explorers such
as sailors to marry local women, under a policy set
by Afonso de Albuquerque, the
Viceroy of India by granting freeman status and
exemption from Crown taxes. The descendants of mixed
Portuguese and Malaccan are known as Kristang. Later
when the dutch and the British colonized Malacca, the
Kristang community expanded further.

T I M E L I N E
16TH
CENTURY
1511
PORTUGUESE CONQUER
MALACCA
18TH
CENTURY
THE COMMUNITY EXPENDED
FURTHER, TO SINGAPORE
?
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
INTERMARRIAGE
20TH
CENTURY
THE USAGE OF KRISTANG
LANGUAGE WAS DECLINED
17TH
CENTURY
1641
DUTCH TAKEOVER
1604
MIXED MARRIAGES
FLOURISHED AND WAS
RECORDED TO 200
21TH
CENTURY
1933
MIXED PORTUGUESE
SETTLEMENT WAS
BUILT
TO REVIVE ITS CULTURE BY
PROMOTING IT AS A TOURIST
ATTRACTION

P A S T
During Portuguese times, fishing was the major income of the
village as they were living by the sea which have affected their
daily habits and culture. Even today, with only 10 percent of the
community is still making their living by fishing.

" Language is
the vehicle of
culture. "

Their Línggu Mái
(“mother
tongue”)
The Portuguese had colonized Malacca for 150 years.
Approximately 300 Portuguese words were adopted in the
Malay language, Bahasa Melayu. The Kristang language is
formally called Malacca-Melayu Portuguese Creole.
However, it is well known as Papiá Kristáng which means
christian speech. It is also sometimes called Săráni,
“Christian” (cf. Nazarene).The Malay language, Bahasa
Melayu, has changed to incorporate many Kristang words.
For examples, kereta from carreta ( car ),
nenas from ananás ( pineapple )

R E L I G I O N
90% Roman Catholicism
10% Islam

F E S T I V A L
Same with other Catholic communities,
the Kristang celebrate Christmas and a
string of major Saints' days beginning
with St. John (San Juang) on 24 June and
closing with St. Peter (San Pedro), the
fishermen's patron saint, on 29 June. The
June festival of St. John's village is a
major tourist attraction of Malacca.
Tourists come to observe the
festivities.Those festival have gained a
lot of tourist attention, local and
international alike.

Merry
Christmas

Christmas is the most festive event of the
year. Kristang families reunion to
celebrate the festival by eating seasonal
dishes, singing carols and branyok, and
reveling in Saudi. In addition, the
decoration of their house is also another
attraction of that day. Everyone even nonchristian
is welcomed to visit the village.

Intrudu Festival

To know this special community, celebrating the Intrudu Festival is the best
way. It is an increasingly popular water festival in Malacca which is observed
on the Sunday preceding to the Ash Wednesday. It represents the beginning
of self-mortification prior to Lent which comprises Maundy Thursday, Good
Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. Here we get to witnessed "Feast of
Saint John" and “Festa San Pedro” festival .

" Beng Nak
Since Kristang are mixed of Portuguese and Malaccan
incuding Malay, Chinese and Indian, the Kristang
cuisine consists of heavy local influence, with the
additions of stews and the inclusion of pork and
seafood in the diet, and rice acts as the staple food.
Among the dishes, the most significant one is the
Devil's Curry which is an extremely spicy dish. Its
complex flavor is said to be relies on Southeast Asian
ingredients like lemongrass and candlenut.

i Kumi !!!
"(“come here to eat”)
Meanwhile, the soy limang terung, silky-smooth
eggplant halves doused in soy sauce mixed with sugar
and lime juice shows the Chinese influence on Kristang
cooking. What makes Kristang cuisine different is
because of its simplicity, on emphasizing good quality
and the freshness of ingredients. Other famous
delicacies include Portuguese grilled fish, pineapple
prawn Curry and Pang Su Si.
Instead of using utensils, Kristang people commonly
eat with their hands .

M U S I C & D A N C E
The Kristang music style is very unique because of its loud
cheerful tone. Their traditional music and dance, such as
the Branyo and the Farrapeira are descendents of
Portuguese folk dances. Their most famous tune is the
'Jinggling Nyonya' which has a happy dance-song routine
and it has eventully become their unofficial "anthem".
The Branyo which descends from the southern Portuguese
folk dance Corridinho had influenced the Malay
joget dance. Besides that, there is also a strong Portuguese
influence on the traditional Malay and Indian orchestras
with the adoption of western music instruments and
musical scales. In dancing field, it requires a lot of
spinning.

P R E S E N T
The culture is nearing extinct
because of several reasons. The
Portuguese settlement was built
to preserve the culture and also
increase the income.

C H A L L E N G E S
Endogamous Religious Law
Religion has been a key challenge as most of the
Eurasians are reluctant to change their religions
and culture identity when intermarriage occurs.
Urbanization
In Portuguese times, residents of the Portuguese
Settlement rely on fishing to make a living, and
nowadays they are at risk of losing their
shoreline. Due to the increasing urbanization
and a changing landscape, the traditional
profession is no longer viable, hence creating a
negative impact on its sense of belonging.

The Loss Of The Language
As the saying goes ' Language is the vehicle of a
culture". The Kristang language is nearing
extinction because it is not taught in schools.
Furthermore, a strong generational shift
towards English is also another reason as during
the 19th century, English became the most
economically useful language around the world.
Plus, new generation is more familiar to English
than Kristang. It can be clearly seen that when
people speak Kristang to each other, but English
to their children. Since lesser people speak the
language, the existence of the culture becomes
extinct.

O P P O R T U N I T I E S

Tourism has been a key catalyst for reviving the dying
Kristang culture in Malacca. The local government aims to
raise the culture awareness by projecting its uniqueness at
key tourist attractions. Furthermore, the mural paintings
depicting Kristang people along Malacca river has been a
recent effort for creating a lasting impact on both local
and international tourists.

“Yo ja prendeh tantu
Kristang!”("I learnt a lot of Kristang")

R E F E R E N C E S
http://lilyrianitravelholic.blogspot.com/2014/
07/kristang-our-portuguese-culture.html
https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/1124
7/MY
http://majesticmalacca.com/pages/ourstory.html
http://www.destinasian.com/blog/newsbriefs/malacca-kristang-community

A Dying Culture
In Malacca