In addition, due to persecution by the Portuguese Inquisition in the region, a lot of the Jews of Malacca assimilated into the Kristang community.

[2] The creole group arose in Malacca (part of present-day Malaysia) between the 16th and 17th centuries, when the city was a port and base of the Portuguese Empire.

[6] The current 13th Kabesa or singular non-hereditary leader of the community worldwide and in Singapore is the Kristang Singaporean science fiction writer and linguist Kevin Martens Wong,[7][8] while the current Regedor or Headman of the Portuguese Settlement of Malacca, the original, geographical, cultural and spiritual centre of the Malacca Portuguese identity, is Oliver Lopez.

Scholars believe the Kristang community originated in part from liaisons and marriages between Portuguese men (sailors, soldiers, traders, etc.)

Nowadays intermarriage occurs more frequently between Kristang and people of Chinese and Indian ethnicity rather than Malay because of endogamous religious laws.

The name "Kristang" is sometimes incorrectly used for other people of mixed European and Asian descent presently living in Malaysia and Singapore.

Malacca was a major destination in the great wave of sea expeditions launched by Portugal around the turn of the 16th century.

[10] A story was recorded that the Portuguese landing party inadvertently insulted the Malaccan sultan by placing a garland of flowers on his head, and he had them detained.

Almost all political contact between Portugal and Malacca ended, and a large number of people of Portuguese descent in the city were evacuated to Batavia (now Jakarta), the Dutch East India Company headquarters, as war captives, where they settled in an area called "Kampung Tugu".

The Kristang community still has cultural and linguistic continuities with today's Portugal, especially with the Minho region, from where many early settlers emigrated.

As the Kristang language is not taught in schools, it is nearing extinction, with the exception of within the Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir Malacca.

Kristang or Malacca Portuguese cuisine consists of heavy local influence, with the additions of stews and the inclusion of pork and seafood in the diet, and rice is the staple food.

Other popular delicacies include Portuguese grilled fish, pineapple prawn Curry, Cari Seccu (dry curry), Caldu Pescador (Fisherman's soup), Sambal Chili Bedri (green chilli sambal), Soy Limang, Porku Tambrinyu (pork tamarind stew), Achar Pesi (fish pickle), Pang Su Si (Su Si Bun), and Sugee Cake.

Christmas (Natal) is the most festive occasion of the year, when many Kristang families get together to celebrate by eating seasonal dishes, singing carols and branyok, and revelling in saudadi.

This led to the establishment of the Kristang Community for Cultural Judaism (KCCJ) in 2010 which is no longer in operation due to political reasons.