Mind your language

The long arm of Portuguese influence stretches to language, music, festivals and food.

ERHAPS the most common misconception about the Malacca-Creole Portuguese language Papiah Kristang, or Bahasa Serani, as it’s also commonly known, is that it’s spoken merely by the Portuguese descendants in the Portuguese settlement in Malacca’s Ujong Pasir. Also, the language being called Kristang is a point of contention, with some settlement folk insisting that it’s just an ancient form of Portuguese.