Peranakan Houses

I am now back in the United States. Before I leave blogging about Singapore altogether, I feel I need to round out my write-up about Singapore architecture, having mentioned the colonial black and whites and the more typical contemporary houses. Any entry about Singapore architecture would not be complete without mention of the unique Peranakan houses as well as the more preponderous HDB flats. This post presents the quaint Peranakan row houses, homes of the Straits Chinese in the 18th C to early 20th C.

Peranakans are acculturated Chinese of Southeast Asia (particularly Singapore and Malaysia) who have adopted the ways of the local Malays and later, the Colonial British, when they migrated to the region in the 18th C. They have created an eccletic and fascinating lifestyle, its influences still evident today in its cuisine, fashion, language, and architecture. I am a Peranakan on my father's side. My grandmother wore sarong kebayas and beaded slippers (I'll have to blog on the colorful fashion at another time). My grandfather was a big fan of Shakespeare. Sadly, they did not live in a delightful Peranakan house like one of these pictured above. The above shots of Peranakan row houses on Emerald Hill are by courtesy of Toast and Nutella.