ECCLESIA IN ASIA The feast of Saint Peter of the fishermen of Malacca

Creoles descended from Portuguese, kristang They celebrate their patron saint every year with a four-day festival that attracts tourists and visitors from all over Malaysia and other countries. “Today there are no more shrimps on our shores and that is a problem for the future. But we do our best to preserve the faith and our traditions.”

Kuala Lumpur () – Among the many faces of the feast of Saint Peter in the world, one of the most particular in Asia is that of the fishermen of the Portuguese settlement of Malacca, in Malaysia, which today concludes the annual celebrations.

Theseira, a retired fisherman, tells that the celebrations began on Thursday, June 27. The Feast of Saint Peter is a major four-day annual event attended by around 100,000 visitors from all over Malaysia and foreign tourists. “An important moment of the festival is the blessing of the local fishermen’s boats, specially decorated for the occasion, in the hope that the saint’s intercession will grant a good catch,” explains Theseira.

The Eurasian Portuguese, known as kristang or simply “Malac Portuguese”, are a Creole ethnic group composed mainly of descendants of Portuguese who intermarried with members of local communities such as Malays and descendants of Dutch, British, Chinese and Indians. At the events you can listen to folk songs from the kristang and see dancers in colorful costumes to the rhythm of the branyu, a cheerful music genre of Portuguese Eurasians. Theseira explains that around 1,500 Portuguese Eurasians live in the settlement area, not counting the diaspora who are in other parts of the country or have emigrated.

The Portuguese settlement was founded in 1933 on the banks of the Ujong Pasir River to create a refuge for the kristangIt was originally known as Saint John’s Village and soon attracted the attention of Kristang from other areas of Melaka. Little by little it grew until it became one of the main tourist attractions in the region and a refuge to preserve the rich heritage and cultural features of its Catholic religion, and preserve its rituals and traditions.

Theseira regrets, however, that the land reclamation that began in 1974 has affected the daily fishing volume. The kristang They are excellent fishermen and especially known for their skill in fishing for shrimp, which they call udang geragau in Malay and I grate in Eurasian Portuguese, and are widely used in their cuisine.

“There is no gragos “There is a lot of fish on our coasts,” Theseira explains, “and that means we can no longer fish. There is not even a good amount of fish, which used to be abundant. We are forced to cast our nets further from the coast and today we are lucky if we catch 20 kilos of fish.” I grate“.

“The settlers – he continues – now have to dedicate themselves to deep-sea fishing with better, more modern and more expensive boats. Traditionally, we do not practice deep sea fishing and we cannot challenge the competition, so our days as traditional fishermen are over and only about twenty fishermen take their boats out to sea. But we are people of faith and hope. We are convinced Catholics and we strive to maintain our faith and live the traditions of our ancestors, even though fishing is no longer the main occupation of the people. Kristang who live here. Our community – he concludes – will continue to maintain in its heart and in its spirit the tradition of celebrating these holidays, looking to Saint Peter, our patron and model saint.

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