The Author

the author

The author was born and has lived most of her life in Malacca, Malaysia, the historic trading-port and home of Kristang, the Portuguese-based Creole of the Eurasian community.
Proud of her Eurasian roots, the author has continuously devoted herself to the service of her community as a Church Organist at the Church of the Assumption, St.Francis' and St.Peter's, a Specialist Music teacher at the Sekolah Menengah Canossa Convent at the Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir Melaka, an aid-worker helping economically-challenged young women and girls through the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Malaysia at both Local and National levels, an active Committee Member of the Selangor and Federal Territory Eurasian Association, Kuala Lumpur, an official liaison between Portugal and the Kristang community in Malaysia and a facilitator for researchers interested in studying 'Kristang'.

In 1994, the author published her first Kristang book entitled "Ungua Adanza" (An Inheritance), an introspective account of the Kristang community derived from her personal memories and observations. Her rich descriptions in Kristang prose and poetry were at once sociolinguistic text and nostalgic slices-of-life, capturing the community's traditions and 'joie de vivre'. The book, shaped by her cultural inheritance, was a call to ponder the evolution and loss of identity among members of her community.

  
Joan as a young teacher with colleagues of the Canossian Convent Secondary school at the Portuguese Settlement, Malacca. 1966

Ten years hence, the author is back with a Kristang keepsake in her new book, "Linggu Mai" (Mother Tongue). With the same vivid style of the first book, it offers Kristang community members and anybody interested in the language the opportunity to learn Kristang through the use of the book, accompanying CD and lexicon. By overcoming the challenges of writing in a language facing extinction, the author's second book affirms the possibility of regenerating the Kristang identity and language or that of any disappearing culture.


Besides being a writer in Kristang, the author is also a keen amateur dramatist, water-colour artist and pianist. She enjoys the adventure of travel, and also delights in the Plays and Musicals in London, Brazilian beaches, Australian apricots and typical home-cooked Kristang meals at the Portuguese Settlement in Malacca. Joan Margaret Marbeck loves life and lives it to the full.

Biography written by David Cheong

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