Saudade: The Culture and Security of Eurasian Communities in Southeast Asia
Antonio L. Rappa
Singapore: Ethos Books, 2013
ISBN: 9789810775452

Saudade is a Portuguese idiom that symbolizes a sense of belonging; a special feeling of attachment to a time and place, as well as a desire to retain its memories and hopes. Saudade is the result of the mixture of European and Asian traditions. The experience of Saudade is also found in Portuguese Eurasian songs, dances and speech. It is from these explanations of Saudade that this book takes its title. The aim of this book is to reveal how Eurasian communities in Singapore and Malaysia survived since local Asians had their First Contact with the Portuguese traders, priests and sailors. Saudade is a rendition of belonging to the Eurasian community as a whole. It involves an important percentage of Portuguese Eurasians whose ancestors were the life-stem of many Eurasian communities in Singapore and Malaysia.