You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
Malacca in Malaysia was a Portuguese colony from 1511 to 1641 before it fell to the Dutch (who were then supplanted by the British). Visiting Malacca you will still meet many of the descendants of those colonists. They are called Kristang and some still speak a Portuguese creolepic.twitter.com/gZ7ClkfeAR
BAP’s theory that colonial miscegenation was an official policy seems accurate when we see that Portuguese women were barred from travelling abroad and men were encouraged to marry local women. Freeman status and tax exemption was granted to those who married local women and bred
Despite their once sizeable number, the Kristang are mostly irrelevant in modern Malaysia and Malacca. After the Dutch takeover most became mere shrimp fishermen. Political power today is dominated by Malays, economic power by Chinese and Indians.
There are also mixed Portuguese descendants in nearby Singapore where they are part of the general Eurasian community which includes mixed descendants of other European races. Again in Singapore we see they are the smallest and least powerful ethnic group with zero clout.
Macau: Hong Kong’s tiny neighbour which returned to the mainland in 1999. The mulatto caste that sprang here are referred to as Macanese and of course differ from the Kristang in that they are mainly Portuguese-Chinese mixed (with some Indian). This is where we get egg tarts frompic.twitter.com/V2EDHxEpFq
Macanese were the middle men between Portuguese merchants/officials and the 90% Chinese majority. Today Macau’s economy is dominated either by Macau Chinese (like Stanley Ho) or Mainland Chinese.
In both Malacca and Macau (and Goa) we can see that in recent years the “Portuguese” caste have dwindled in fortune. In all three areas, many have migrated to the west in recent decades and those that remain are normally found at the lower economic tiers.
What I find interesting is how this middle-manager caste has declined in each area following the departure of the colonial government. The cause is obvious: without the influence of the colonial power, there is little to no need for an intermediary caste.
Once the benefits of speaking a ruling power’s language have been removed (and the cultural closeness) the middle-managers have little to offer and are quickly dominated by the ethnic majority. They are either submerged into the majority or hold on as dying relics of a former age
(This is equally true in business. Any intermediary agent such as an estate agent, headhunter or exporter is in a highly precarious position should the buyer and the vendor decide to just contact each other directly)
I believe it is true that in life as in business, nature abhors a middle-man. As soon as the need for a middle-man is no longer there, then there is little goodwill extended. This is true of the mulatto populations: Useless to the ex-colonial power, mistrusted by the new majority
Our current middle-manager caste who are praised and paraded by our elites should be mindful of this. If the day ever comes when the side they strive so hard to promote ever does become a majority power, they might find themselves resented for their ties to the previous majority.pic.twitter.com/4xMJEexrSA
Remember the above when exhorted by propaganda to put politics before passion when selecting partners. When sides are drawn, it is inevitably those who straddle the fence who are the first to suffer.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.
