For most of the 16th century, the Portuguese had a "No Trespassing" sign over the sea routes to Asia. They kept their navigation charts—the roteiros —under literal lock and key. But every secret has a price. Enter Jan Huygen van Linschoten , a Dutch spy working as a secretary to the Portuguese Archbishop in Goa. He spent years copying top-secret Portuguese sailing directions and trade secrets. In 1595, he published them in a blockbuster book, the Reys-gheschrift vande navigat

I had visited all the countries of Southeast Asia until October 2025, when Timor-Leste became the 11th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). I therefore took advantage of my son’s Easter school holiday to visit the former Portuguese territory, so here’s a bit of a photo essay. We arrived in the capital Dili, a town of 300,000 inhabitants. The Portuguese influence was immediately apparent: the language of Camões is one of two official languages, the oth

The 36th Singapore International Film Festival was held from November 26 to December 7, 2025. Although the SIFF is known for its focus on Asian filmmakers and promotion of Southeast Asian films, it also includes in its programming notable independent and non-commercial films from around the world. On December 6, with the support of the Portuguese Embassy in Singapore , the SIFF presented the Portuguese movie O riso e a faca , known in English as "I Only Rest in the Storm", b