The songs and dances of the Portuguese-Eurasians nurture a deep sense of community, writes Pauline Fan
“WHOEVER is Lord Of Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice,” wrote Portuguese apothecary and diplomat Tome Pires in Suma Oriental, his landmark book on Portuguese imperialist trade in Asia during the early 16th Century.
Pires was right as Portugal’s conquest of the strategic port of Malacca in 1511 gave them a monopoly over the highly lucrative spice trade, edging out rival Venetian merchants and Arab traders who had controlled it for so long.
The discovery of a sea route linking East and West — as well as the search for strategic ports in Asia — became necessary in order to control international trade, especially after the Ottoman Empire captured the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 1453.
In 1497, the Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and became the first European to reach India by sea.
This opened up an oceanic trade route between Europe and Asia, and ushered in the age of global imperialism.
In 1511 Afonso de Albuquerque, the Portuguese Viceroy of India set sail from Goa with 18 ships and over 1,000 men for the thriving and wealthy port of Malacca.
The Malay Annals tell of how the Malacca Sultanate was defeated by Albuquerqe’s gunboats.
It marked the beginning of Portuguese imperial control of Malacca for the next 130 years, until their defeat by the Dutch in 1641.
Along with soldiers, sailors and merchants, the maritime trade routes of the old Portuguese Empire carried the folk music and dance of the southern European motherland to the diasporic Portuguese-Eurasian communities in Asia.
In these settler communities, Portuguese folk music evolved organically into distinct local forms, including Mata Kantiga and Branyo in Malacca, Bayila in Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka), Goan-Portuguese music in Goa, Macanese music in Macau, and Koremetan in Timor Leste.
BRANYO AND JOGET
The music a nd da nce of t he Portuguese-Eurasian community of Malacca is characteristically cheerful and vivacious, using instruments such as guitars and tambourine, accordion, tambour or the Malay rebana.
Couples dance in colourful costumes similar to the folk costumes of Portugal — the men wear black bolero jackets and hats while the women wear colourful embroidered skirts.
The main songs and dances include the branyo, tianika, maliao and farapeira.
One of the most emblematic melodies of the Portuguese-Eurasian community of Malacca is the Jingkli Nona.
The song is thought by some scholars to have been brought over to Malacca from the Portuguese- Eurasian community in Ceylon, as the term jingkli is believed to refer to “Sinhalese” or to jingling anklets, while the term nona is Sinhala for “girl”.
While the dance is a playful song of courtship, the song’s lyrics hint at the process of intermarriage between Portuguese men (soldiers, sailors or traders of the old empire) and local women that gave rise to Portuguese-Eurasian communities in Asia: “Jingkli Nona, Jingkli Nona, yo kere kaza” (Jingkli Nona, I want to marry you).
The song has remained popular throughout the decades and there is even a scene depicting Portuguese settlers singing Jingkli Nona in the 1962 film, Tun Fatimah, starring Maria Menado and Yusoff Latiff.
In Malacca, some songs of the Portuguese-Eurasian community are sung in old Portuguese that has been passed down orally by master singers.
Others are sung in Kristang, also known as Papia Kristang — the local creole language derived from old Portuguese mixed with Malay words and grammatical structure.
The term Kristang means “Christian”, derived from the Portuguese cristao.
The Portuguese-Eurasians of Malacca historically referred to themselves as Gente Kristang.
The main styles of the music and dance of the Gente Kristang are branyo and mata-kantiga.
The lively branyo is derived from the Portuguese folk dance known as corridinho, found in the Algarve region of Portugal.
Since the early 16th Century, branyo has been performed in Malacca as part of the Portuguese festival of Introdu or Shrove Sunday, before the holy month of Lent.
To this day branyo is still played during weddings and festivities such as Festa Senjuan (Saint John’s Feast) and Festa San Pedro (Saint Peter’s Feast).
The four main rhythms of branyo are jingkli nona, kanji-pape, sarampeh or serampang laut and chorte forte.
These branyo rhythms have greatly influenced Malay joget music, so much so that Malay musicians often refer to branyo tunes as joget and Malay joget songs are referred to as branyo when performed at the Portuguese Settlement.
Mata-kantiga (meaning “kill the song”) is a form of singing of Portuguese origin where a man and a woman exchange improvised verses.
According to the scholar Margaret Sarkissian, there are three main themes of mata-kantiga romantic (cantigas de amigo or songs of friendship), mock (cantigas de mal dizer or songs of ill-saying) and miscellaneous.
Following the death of master exponent Rosil de Costa, mata-kantiga is hardly performed any more.
Another form of improvised verse duels called dondang sayang — once popular among the Baba Nyonya community of Malacca — was significantly inf luenced by mata-kantiga and Portuguese folk music as well as Malay pantun.
CELEBRATING COMMUNITY
Gerard De Costa, 50, has been performing Malaccan Portuguese folk songsanddancessincehe was a teenager.
A driver with Tenaga Nasional by day, after work De Costa passionately strives to continue the cultural legacy of his community.
His father was a musician and his mother was a dancer in one of the pioneering dance troupes of the Portuguese Settlement of Malacca.
His wife, Anne de Mello, too, hails from a family of gifted dancers and musicians.
Anne’s father, Norman de Mello, composed songs and one of his compositions is the beautiful love song, O Amor, which De Costa’s group performs to this day.
Their children have shown interest and initiative in learning the songs and dances of their community as well.
De Costa began learning the songs of the Portuguese-Eurasian community at the age of 6.
By 10, he began learning folk dances under Noel Felix, one of the living custodians of Malaccan Portuguese culture.
Soon, he was performing in Uncle Noel’s troupe.
He performed with this troupe for 34 years.
He later established his own troupe, 1511 O Maliao Maliao, which performs actively to this day, carrying on the style of Felix’s troupe.
Felix (or Uncle Noel, as De Costa fondly refers to him) was the singer and leader of Tropa de Malacca.
With his keen powers of observation, Felix picked up many of the songs and dances of his community from his parents and elders, and kept them alive through Tropa de Malacca.
In her comprehensive book, D’Albuquerque’s Children: Performing Tradition In Malaysia’s Portuguese Settlement, scholar Margaret Sarkissian wrote: “When he sings, there is an aura about him that commands attention.” Now almost 80 years old, Felix is loved and respected in his community for his cultural knowledge and experience, and for passing down this knowledge to the next generation of performers.
The Kristang name for the Portuguese Settlement in Malacca is Padri Se Chang — Land of the Priests.
The songs and dances of the Portuguese-Eurasians play a vital role in nurturing a deep sense of community.
Not simply a form of entertainment, the songs and dances of Padri Se Chang are also performed during festive seasons like Christmas or to mark the beginning of the solemn month of Lent.
Some in the Portuguese-Eurasian community have reclaimed celebrations like Christmas as an integral part of Kristang heritage.
Felix and author Joan Marbeck have translated Christmas carols into Kristang, making the commemoration of Christ’s birth at the same time a cultivation of Kristang culture and community.
Despite passionate cultural custodians like Felix and De Costa, there remain many challenges to the vibrancy of Malaccan Portuguese cultural traditions.
The younger generation tends to be more drawn to western culture rather than engage actively in their own heritage.
De Costa says: “Much needs to be done to instill our culture in the younger generation.
I try to encourage them to be part of a cultural troupe.
Our songs and dances are the soul and stories of our community.
Without this, we will be lost.”
Songs of Padri Se Chang
Where: Black Box, Publika, Solaris Dutamas, 1 Jalan Dutamas 1, Kuala Lumpur
When: Dec 14, 8:30- 9:30pm
Admission: Free
Contact: info@ senipusaka.com Pusaka Evenings at Publika presents Songs of Padri Se Chang - the vibrant music and dance of the Portuguese Community of Malacca.
Featuring the wonderful 1511 O Maliao Maliao Dance Troupe.
Come and celebrate the Christmas season with Pusaka’s last performance for the year