The ISEAS's Team - L-R - Peters; Prof Pang; Laura; Pany
"We (Portuguese) were already here as early as 1509, but for the record, 1511 is the recognised time, officially". Michael - a Malaysian Portuguese whispered softly while we were in a meeting this morning.
Michael is the representative for the Portuguese community in Melaka. With his attentive close friend, Peters, Michael shared some of his experience with all of us during the first meeting which was held at the 16th floor in the UiTM Kampus Bandaraya's building, situated somewhere at OffJalan Hang Tuah, Melaka Town.
The meeting was basically about, in Laura Pang's (from ISEAS, Singapore-based Institute of South East Asian Studies) own words, "Portuguese and Luso-Asian Legacies in Southeast Asia, 1511-2010". The other four representatives from ISEAS, apart from Laura were, Mr Pany (the ISEAS's Director); Prof. Eul Pang; Geoff Wade (a specialist on ships, maritime navigation and shipwrecks); Mr. Tansen Sen (Director of Nalandan-Srivijaya Center); and Prof. Mike Miskic (archaeologist?).
Laura was mentioning something about an international conference, which will be organised in September this year, in Singapore and Melaka. Its a bit too early for me to say anything at the moment. I did not have ample time to do my homework since the notice - of having to attend the initial meeting in Melaka - was served to me only last nite. The impression I got the moment Ambassador (rtd.) Datuk Yusof started the meeting was that we (the Malaysian counterpart) should only be concentrating on the arrival nite (the conference participants will leave for Melaka from Singapore on the second day of the conference and head straight for dinner at the Portuguese village in Melaka).
Im not sure if we still have the time to submit conference papers for the session in Singapore. Laura was all prepared to accomodate for a few more papers that should come in later this month. I'll think about it perhaps after I got the chance to talk to a few colleagues, especially Datuk Yusof. I got so much in my mind - Portuguese, legacies, 500 years...I wonder what Datuk Ramlah has got to say about this. Anyway, Mr Pany was kind enough, and I got three good books from him - (1) Creating "Greater Malaysia": Decolonization and the Politics of Merger; (2) Malaya's First Year at the United Nations as reflected in Dr Ismail's Reports home to Tunku Abdul Rahman; and (3) Realizing the ASEAN Economic Community: A comprehensive Assessment. Thank you Pany!
(Headed home at 1630hrs; stopped for a drink at the Seremban R&R and had brewed coffee at Shalala's.)
