A Vibrant Heritage

Painting by Heidi Koh

Both my daughters will soon be together in Singapore.  One is working there, the other visiting her little sister. They are both grown up now, curious about their heritage, and eager to buy nyonya  kebayas for themselves and for me. This has prompted me to blog about my Peranakan heritage.

I am Peranakan Chinese on my father's side.  Peranakan Chinese or Baba-Nonya  or Straits Chinese describes a people that are descendants of the late 15th C to 19th C Chinese immigrants to British Malaya (now Malaysia and Singapore) and Indonesia.  My father's family settled in a fishing village on the east coast of Malaysia.  When he was 19, my father, desiring of a better future than what the small fishing  village could offer him, hopped on a pig truck headed for Singapore, carrying with him the dream of pursuing a tertiary education in Australia. He did not make it Down Under but established a career in banking, got married, and raised three children in cosmopolitan Singapore.

Although he did not consciously raise his children in the Peranakan heritage, I realized later in life that I am more Peranakan Chinese in my outlook than I am ethnically Chinese. The Peranakans through the generations have assimilated comfortably into the local Malay communities, adopting the language, fashion, and cuisine as their own, yet holding on to aspects of their Chinese heritage like their Taoist ancestral worship and Confucius' teachings, like respect of elders for example. They also absorbed the British culture; the British colonized Malaya in the early 1800s.  By my grandfather's generation, the Peranakans were more loyal to Great Britain than they were to China. I remember my grandfather as much in the habit of quoting Shakespeare. He served as Justice-of-Peace of his hometown for many years.

My grandmother was the typical nyonya (Peranakan woman). She wore the colorful sarong kebaya which comprised of delicately embroidered kebaya top fastened in the front by kerosangs (intricate, sometimes gem-studded brooches ) that cascades over a batik sarong held up by tali pinggang (belt made of silver, copper or gold). The mix of patterns can be quite an eyeful. But I think it reflects well the  mix culture that is vibrant and unself-conscious. Beaded slippers called kasot manek adorned her feet.  She liked her food spicy, the nyonya cuisine more Malay influenced than Chinese. She was quite the feisty woman; her temper as fiery as her food!

Sarong Kebaya

Kerosang

Kasot Manek

tali pinggan

Like most Babas (Peranakan men), my father was educated in English.  He spoke and wrote immaculate English.   He also grew up speaking a pidgin version of the Chinese dialect, Hokkien, which had many Malay and English words incorporated into it, as well as Malay.  It wasn't until he moved to Singapore and had to do business with Chinese from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China that he studied Chinese in a serious way.  He was an excellent scholar and picked up the language quickly and became well-versed in Chinese literature, as he already was in English literature.  But despite his mastery over the language, he was never thought of as being your typical Chinese.  He was much too straight forward and "Westernized" in his outlook to effectively handle the complexity and duplicity of the Chinese business culture.  He was after all a Peranakan at heart.

I don't know if I consciously raised my children Peranakan, but I know they appreciate the diversity of their lineage.  When they were younger, I was often asked why I did not teach them my mother tongue.  Which mother tongue?  I would on occasion reply tongue-in-cheek, knowing full well that they meant the Chinese language. I like to tell them that I am a Straits Chinese, not your typical Chinese, but that would only confuse them.  Ours is a happily confused culture; perhaps it is time I make a more concerted effort to help introduce and preserve this very unique and vibrant heritage that has so shaped my father, and subsequently me, and now my children.

Happy kebaya shopping, Girls!