Jenti Kristang misti papia Kristang— Christian people must speak their language.
What I was taught as a child is that Jenti Kristang refers to Christian people of Malacca with creole Portuguese descent. Also known as the first Eurasians.
Bong dia! Yo sa nomi Alison. Yo alegri enkontra cum bos!
G’day, my name is Alison. I’m happy to meet with you
Dos dos yo sa mai pai jenti Kristang.
Both my parents are Eurasians.
Mas yo sa mai podi papia Kristang. Eli lembrah di eli sa aboh.
But only my mom speaks Kristang. She learned from her grandma.
While English is my first language at home, since childhood when I started school in primary one, I learned a second language Bahasa Melayu, Malay for ten years of my school life. I’m fluent with both reading and writing Malay.
During this time, my mom also began teaching me our Kristang language, and to cook our Eurasian Cuisine and to understand who we are and our history. Her logic—learning a second language in school is a great way to communicate in Singapore with other cultures but I want my daughter to know her heritage and culture as well.
In this post, I’d like to share why I feel learning a second language is crucial. While communications is the crux in how we connect with others, perhaps also understanding someone’s culture can teach us to respect each other. And we can learn to live in peace and harmony.
Papia Kristang—Why Learning Any Language is Crucial
Do you think differently while speaking in another languages? The answer is simple, yes. Depending on the language you speak, you follow the sequence in a flow. Many of my friends speak various dialects and can transition from one language to another seamlessly without thinking.
Learning any language is not easy as you must learn a new set of spelling, tenses and grammar style as you read and write. And because I learn Kristang, Bahasa Melayu became easy for me to pick up and retain. And I often mix the two languages with English.
When speaking multiple language, the mind intertwines and blend into a flow to help you choose certain words to express what you wish to say to get my point across. When you are in the learning phase, your mind moves with an open flow to help you think.
Building an understanding when learning Kristang has been extremely exciting because I got to learn about my ancestors and their way of life. I’ve never felt lost because my heritage and culture have strengthened my sense of belonging. The legacies of those who came before me—their past experiences, values and traditions I inherited, forms a huge part of my childhood growing years.
When you can converse fluently, you build your confidence and self esteem to find your own voice to innovate new ideas. And because Singapore is a multiracial society, our identity is intertwined with various cultures and customs. Which literally made our childhood fun.
If you are presented with the opportunity to learn a new language, you open pathways in your mind to develop critical thinking. Like learning to play a musical instrument, you learn music scores to understand a whole new way of thinking. And more importantly you gain confidence as more opportunities are present to us.
Leaving a Legacy to the Next Generation
Bong pamiang mai … drumi bong
Good morning mum … sleep well!
Bong … muitu merseh!
Good thank you.
The sound of my daughter’s voice is sweet to my ears. While she doesn’t speak Kristang fluently, she knows certain words and ways to greet others or speak short sentences.
I’m currently teaching my daughter to speak Kristang. While many may say she’ll never use it, and you are right, training her to speak this language opens the gift of confidence and self esteem. What’s lacking in our world is this idea—everyone follows a mentor or their hero without learning to become a leader in their own life. Especially with AI on the rise, many tend to use it without exercising your right to think for yourself.
My mom is one of the few parents who took the time to pass on the legacies of our stories, traditions and values to make learning our Kristang language interesting and fun. What I’ve learned is that practicing it often makes you fluent. Today, when my children come home from school to the smell of curry debal / devil cooking in the kitchen, or to our traditional sugee cake baking, the first words I hear is smells like Christmas in here. Those words to me only show me how much of my heritage has been passed onto my children.
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