Introduction

The origins of Eurasians of Portuguese descent (henceforth to be referred to as Portuguese Eurasians) can be traced back to the 16th century when the Portuguese arrived and subsequently controlled Malacca until 1641 when the Dutch took over (Fernandis 2000; Sta Maria 1982). During their conquest of Malacca, Portuguese men were encouraged to marry local women. The hybrid population they produced (Baxter 2005; Sta Maria 1982) became the probable ancestors of Portuguese Eurasians (Guisan 1999; O’Neill 1995 reproduced in Marbeck 1999). Along with the people of Portuguese descent, a Portuguese creole commonly known as Kristang (Baxter 2005) has survived more than 500 years. However, mixed marriages, urbanisation, education and socioeconomic and geographical mobility have resulted in a decreasing number of mother tongue speakers of Kristang among the Portuguese Eurasians (David & Faridah 1999; Sudesh 2000). In most cases, English has taken over as the home language. Baxter (2005: 18) explains that the shift to English in the mid-1800s was for utilitarian purposes: “English was a prestige language, a key to employment, Kristang was not”. This sentiment is echoed by Marbeck (quoted in Yong 2004: 8):

“… we were not encouraged to speak Kristang. We were told that if you want to get on in this world you have to speak English.”

Similar attitudes placing English as the most important language have also been found in David and Faridah (1999) and Sudesh (2000). Thus, it is not surprising that studies conducted of the Portuguese settlement in Malacca indicate that even in an area of high concentration of Portuguese Eurasians, where Eurasian culture thrives, Kristang is being displaced. Baxter (2005) cites Nunes’ study (1996), which found that only 56% of the 225 residents surveyed indicated Kristang as their mother tongue, with the percentage predictably decreasing with age. However, a higher percentage of respondents in David and Faridah's study (1999) cited Kristang as their mother tongue, although the different results in the two studies could be attributed to the smaller sample size in the latter (62 respondents). What is interesting is that contrary to the high percentage of respondents (73%) who said that Kristang was their mother tongue, less than half of them claimed to be fluent in Kristang as opposed to 63% of them saying that they were fluent in English (David & Faridah 1999: 473).