Feista San Juang in Portueguese Settlement

Feista San Juang or Feast of St John the Baptist falls on the 23rd June each year. During that day, you could see “little white stars” on the verandas, balconies and on top picket fences of the Portuguese-Eurasian homes in the Portuguese Settlement, Melaka.

These “little white stars” are mini flames from the white candles lit by the Portuguese to indicate the Feista San Juang.

How it is held?

After a religious service at the Portuguese Settlement Community Hall, a small bonfire is lit at the square. Then, members of the Irmaos de Igreja (Brothers of the Church) will light up their wicker torches and walk to all homes in the settlement lighting up little white candles set on fences and gates at sunset.

Interestingly, the ritual of using lighted candles to observe the feast was adopted from the Portuguese when they occupied Malacca from 1511 to 1641.

During the olden days, there is a candlelight procession from the Praya Lane’s Assumption Church to the Settlement in the evening where every home will be similarly lit up with white candles.

Why do they light up the white candles?

According to a local villager, St John the Baptist was described as the forerunner evangelist prior to the coming of Christ. Therefore, the lighted candles signify this saint who led the way during the time of pagan communities.”

Let me share with you how the Feista San Juang was held during the heyday.

In the early 1950s and 1960s, there were a large number of Portuguese-Eurasians families in Praya Lane and Kampung Banda Hilir. As fishing was their dominant livelihood, the residents (Portuguese) wore green pajamas on the night of the feast day while during the day their children were all dressed in green clothing. They also prepared green peas soup for that day.

Why they wore green clothes? It is said that green represented the community’s innocence, purity and rejuvenation. It is also believed that when St John was beheaded, children who visited his tomb were dressed in green and carried lighted candles in homage.

Another practice of the feast day still adhered to until today is the making of Kanjee Munggu. It is a sweet delicacy made from mung beans. This sweet is only made on the feast day and is eaten in Portuguese-Eurasian households at tea time. I have not tasted this delicacy yet; maybe I will be invited to taste it in future.

Today, Feista San Juang was combined with the San Pedro Festival and it was held for a few days starting from 23rd of June. Therefore, outsiders (those not from the settlement local communities) will tend to remember Feista de San Pedro more.

The combined festivals attract tourist to throng the Portuguese Settlement for delicious Portuguese delicacy (food fair), traditional show and entertainments.

Notes from the book Survival Through Times, authored by the late Portuguese Cleric Fr M.J. Pintado who served and lived in Malacca from the late 1950s, state: “At the height of the Portuguese occupation of the state, the feast of St John the Baptist was observed in grand fashion. A prayer service was then held at the chapel atop St John’s Hill, located midway between Praya Lane and the Portuguese Settlement where hundreds would gather to pray and feast in picnic-like atmosphere until the late hours of the night.”

Want to join the fun? Just drop by my colourful hometown, Melaka in mid June to experience the localized culture of traditional Portuguese experience.

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