Public Story
In The Dark? Follow The Son
| IN THE DARK? FOLLOW THE SON In the shores of Malacca Strait, once a strategic point for the Portuguese expansion in East Indias, in the same place where 500 years ago, sailors, merchants and slaves arrived, there are now around 1000 descendants left. It is people who embody a deep feeling of belonging with Portugal, in their culture, name, Christian devotion, and miscegenated language. They call themselves Portuguese, not without the sorrow and feeling of abandonment and forgetfulness on the part of the nation that they feel they belong to. "Kampung Portugis," also known as "Portuguese Settlement," is inhabited by descendants of Portuguese sailors who arrived in Malacca 500 years ago. Portugal ruled Malacca from 1511, when Afonso de Albuquerque took power, till 1641, when the Dutch conquered the city. For most of the people living here, probably for all of them, the settlement is the only link that exists with Portugal, together with the religion, language and festivities. The neighborhood was established in the years of 1930, by Álvaro Martins Coroado, a priest, and Pierre François. With around 110 houses, all the 1500 inhabitants must have Portuguese ancestors to live here. |
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