On 24 July 1511 Alfonso d'Albuquerque conquered Melaka. His fleet was accompanied by Franciscan and Dominican Friars most of whom moved on to the Moluccas a short time later. Although the coming of the Portuguese involved a mixture of economic and religious motives and was in both respects a race with Islam, the economic interest dominated. Since Muslim traders now took their business elsewhere, the Catholic invasion had the unintentional effect of aiding the spread of Islam.
As far as the Malay Peninsular was concerned, the Portuguese religious mission was limited to ministering to the Catholic community established within Melaka itself. Chinese and Indians converted in small numbers and Malays by intermarriage. No essential distinction was made between becoming a Christian and becoming Portuguese.
The security of the settlement was always precarious with raids from Johore and Acheh and after 1600 from the Dutch. There were few bright spots. The visits of Francis Xavier from 1545 to 1552, the baptism of Japanese converts, and the first mass of a young priest conducted in full European splendour. More generally life was marked by warfare and sickness. While the reputation of being the greatest sink of iniquity in the East may not have been undeserved at times, we should perhaps be more impressed by how much people's faith helped them survive the suffering of the long and difficult years which did not end with Melaka's fall to the Dutch in 1641.
In terms of Christian impact on the Malay Peninsular the Portuguese had neither the vision nor the moral and spiritual energy to contemplate evangelism. Inevitably, Christianity was perceived as the religion of invading foreigners whose presence was unwelcome.