Locals have lamented the loss of livelihood and cultural traditions due to land reclamation projects off the coast in the Portuguese Settlement, of Malacca.

Portuguese Serani community activist Martin Theseira was one of the fisherfolk living in the settlement for 20 years when the land reclamations there first began.

In the time since he has witnessed the number of fisherfolk in the community decrease by more than half - despite the community's traditional reliance on income from fishing - due to...