Established 1961 Lifestyle

MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2019

Muslim worshippers pray early on June 1, 2019 at Kuwait City’s Grand Mosque on the occasion of Lailat Al-Qadr, which marks the night in the fasting month of Ramadan during which the Holy Quran was first revealed to Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in the seventh century. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

hildren in colorful outfits sing in a Despite the dire outlook, Kristang’s melod- Ccreole of Portuguese and Malay ic tones can still be heard frequently in the during a class in the historic small Malacca settlement of Ujong Pasir Malaysian city of Malacca, part of efforts where the Portuguese Eurasian community to stem the decline of the centuries-old has traditionally lived. language. The youngsters chant “bong Groups of elderly men sit chatting in the atardi mestri” (good evening teacher) and language on the waterfront, and are enthu- work their way through songs including siastic about passing it on to the next gen- “Bunitu siara siorus” (Beautiful ladies and eration. “I and my wife speak the language gentlemen) and “Gato do matu” (The jun- with our five children, 11 grandchildren and gle cat). Sara Santa Maria runs the weekly our two-year-old great grandchild to keep classes at her home to ensure the younger it alive,” former fisherman Stanley generation learn “Papia Kristang”, one of Goonting, 72, told AFP. But he is all too several steps aimed at preserving an aware of Kristang’s vulnerability: “There is endangered language spoken by people of a danger that Papia Kristang will be spo- mixed Portuguese and Malaysian ancestry. ken less and die out.” “I definitely fear Kristang could disap- pear,” the 50-year-old teacher told AFP, as the youngsters dressed in Portuguese- style traditional costumes laughed and danced. “Many Eurasians have moved out of the settlement and the children only speak Malay and English,” she added, referring to an area of Malacca that has traditionally been home to speakers of the language. Kristang developed after the Portuguese took over the strategic port city on the Straits of Malacca, one of the This combo of a picture shows from (top left to right) Gabriella Amber De Silva, 12, Montana meaning ‘mountain’, James De world’s most important shipping routes, Silva, 13, Kari Pimenta meaning ‘pepper curry fish’, Jazmynn Trisha Thomes, 9, Cachoru meaning ‘dog’, (centre left to right) about 500 years ago and colonizers mar- Kyle Julian Marsh, 12, Susi meaning ‘sister’, Leona Cheryl Danker, 11, Familia meaning ‘family’, Nowell David De Costa, 11, ried local women. Sabrozu meaning ‘delicious or tasty’, (bottom left to right) Cherilyn Anne Da Costa, 12, Yo Kere Cumi meaning ‘I want to eat’, It was an era when tiny Portugal had a Elijah, 11, Testa meaning ‘forehead’ and Shayna Marianne Pereira, 12, Bentu Di Natal meaning ‘winds of Christmas’ at the global empire and Malacca, a center of the Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir, Malacca; as they each pose for a picture with words they are learning in the Kristang lucrative spice trade, was a key prize for language. Children in colorful outfits sing in a creole of Portuguese and Malay during a class in the historic Malaysian city of rival powers. After Portuguese rule, the Malacca, part of efforts to stem the decline of the centuries-old language. — AFP Dutch colonized it and later the British took it over until Malaysian independence. The city on Malaysia’s west coast still has As well as Santa Maria’s lessons, other Sara Santa Maria, 50, vestiges of colonial rule which have made moves are being made to save the lan- teaching students the it popular with tourists, including red- guage-a Kristang textbook has been pro- Kristang language at the walled Dutch buildings and a gate house duced, as well as a mobile app and a CD of Portuguese Settlement in which is all that remains of a once-mighty Catholic prayers and hymns. In neighbor- Ujong Pasir, Malacca. Portuguese fortress. Kristang has a largely ing Singapore, Kevin Martens Wong, a Portuguese vocabulary but its grammatical Eurasian-Chinese teacher, is spearheading structure is similar to Malay-the most efforts to revive Kristang, and has taught commonly spoken language in Malaysia- the language to hundreds of students since and it is also influenced by Chinese and 2016. His grandparents spoke Kristang but Indian languages. he only learnt it in recent years before Students dressed in traditional Portuguese outfits dancing Sara Santa Maria (center), 50, listening to Jazmynn Trisha As well as in Malaysia, it is spoken by deciding to teach others. before learning the Kristang language at the Portuguese Thomes, 9, read a book in the Kristang language at the tiny communities in Singapore and “I had never learnt it growing up, so Settlement in Ujong Pasir, Malacca. Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir, Malacca. Australia due to migration. But it has been there’s a strong passion and investment in in decline for years. The language is not learning the language and passing it on to part of the school curriculum and the others,” he said. There is also great enthu- Eurasian community has been steadily siasm for the language among Santa assimilated into the broader Malay-speak- Maria’s students, which offers some hope ing community. for the future. “Kristang is part of my iden- tity and culture, I want to preserve it,” said ‘Part of my identity’ Gabriella Amber, a 12-year-old who has UNESCO, which lists languages in peril, been learning the language for five years. classifies Kristang as “severely endan- “If we stop talking, I fear it will become gered” and says only about 2,000 people extinct.”— AFP speak it. It is just one of many tongues in Sara Santa Maria (center), 50, singing a Kristang song Students dressed in traditional Portuguese outfits dancing danger, with the UN agency predicting with her students at the Portuguese Settlement in Ujong before learning the Kristang language at the Portuguese that half the world’s 6,000 languages will Pasir, Malacca. Settlement in Ujong Pasir, Malacca. disappear by the end of this century.

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