The Baba and Nyonya heritage

Posted on 5 February 2005 - 08:33pm

DO you know that if a man married a Nyonya or Peranakan woman, he would ha e to mo e in with her family! "hus, if you are a new-a#e sensiti e #uy, you would ha e no problems takin# the plun#e$ %owe er, while males usually had their way, Peranakan &ulture di&tates that the man has to mo e in with the wife and not the other way round$ 'any Peranakan families would also seek Singkeh ()traits-born but not Peranakan* sons-in-law for their dau#hters be&ause of their hardworkin# nature and to ensure that their dau#hters would be well looked after$ )u&h is the &ulture of the Peranakans whi&h was re ealed at the +orld of Peranakan )ymposium held at the National 'useum in ,uala -umpur on "hursday$ "he symposium marks the laun&h of the +orld of Peranakan ./hibition: 0aba and Nyonya %erita#e of )outheast 1sia whi&h will be held at Gallery 2 of National Museum until April 3 (9am to 6pm). "he symposium brou#ht in parti&ipants &omprisin# ei#hth and ninth 0aba and Nyonya #enerations from as far as 2ohor 0aru and 'ala&&a$ "hey shed li#ht on numerous issues, in&ludin# the possible de&line of the &ulture$ )ome are of the opinion that the sudden resur#en&e of interest in Peranakan herita#e should ser e as a steppin# stone to preser in# the &ulture$ 1mon# the presenters were Prof 'yra )idharta and Prof -eo )uryadinata from 3ndonesia, Prof "an 4hee 0en# who is the &hairperson of the 1nthropolo#y 5epartment at the 4hinese 6ni ersity of %on#kon#, )eah 0ee -en# who is a masters &andidate at the %istory 5epartment of theNational 6ni ersity of )in#apore, and Prof 5in# 4hoo 'in#, a senior resear&h fellow at the 3nstitut 1lam dan "amadan 'elayu of 6ni ersiti ,eban#saan 'alaysia$ 5urin# the presentation, the s&holars &ame up with many theories on the birth of the 0aba and Nyonya &ulture$ +hile some stron#ly belie e that it was the marria#e of Prin&ess %an# -i Po to )ultan 'ansur )hah of 'ala&&a, others belie e it was the work of the 4hinese traders who settled alon# the)traits of 'ala&&a in the 75th &entury$

"he Peranakan &ommunity &an be found in 'ala&&a, Penan# and e en on the east &oast of the peninsula, )in#apore and 3ndonesia$ "hey introdu&ed a uni8ue blend of two &ultures in whi&h the people who are ethni& 4hinese pra&tise 'alay &ulture$ )ome opined that it would be diffi&ult to preser e the &ulture, espe&ially the lan#ua#e, referred to as Cakap Peranakan$ 3n the world of fashion, the Nyonyas #a e life to the baju kebaya in the 79:0s$ +ith its fine embroidery and se8uins, the outfits suit the 'alay &ulture$ "he kebaya would &ome &omplete with kerongsang (broo&h* pinned at the &entre of the top whi&h is usually worn with a saron#$ Nyonyas would also sport the &hi#non, whi&h is &alled sanggul in 'alay, and &omes de&orated and kept in pla&e with pins or cucuk sanggul$ "he youn#er women would wear their hair in two buns &alled the sanggul talipon$ ;n their feet would be beaded slippers or kasut manek to &omplement their outfits$ For the men, &alled 0abas, hi#h 'andarin-&ollar outfits with #old studs, ba##y pants and a toupee hat were the order of the day$ 1&&ordin# to anthropolo#y studies &arried out by some of the presenters, the men were found to be more in ol ed in the world of trade$ Peranakan men were also &onsidered anak emas or spoilt$ 1s for lan#ua#e, this aries a&&ordin# to the lo&ation of the &ommunity$ For e/ample, Peranakan men and women in "eren##anu and ,elantan would inte#rate a lo&alised ersion of %okkien, "hai and lo&al 'alay diale&ts in their spee&h while those in 'ala&&a and Penan# ha e their own ersions of 4akap Peranakan$ "here is mu&h to be dis&o ered in the +orld of Peranakan and in this &ase, isual aid may well help the &ause$ 5o not miss out on the e/hibition whi&h was laun&hed on Friday by the <a=a Permaisuri 1#on# and 4ulture, 1rts and %erita#e 'inister 5atuk )eri 6tama 5r <ais >atim as it features many artifa&ts, illustrations and des&riptions of the 0aba and Nyonya &ulture, sheddin# li#ht on the ori#ins, rituals and &eremonies$