From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Peranakan, Baba-Nyonya and Straits Chinese (after the Straits of
Malacca) are terms used for the descendants of the early Chinese
immigrants to Malacca on the Malay Peninsula, who spread through
the British Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca and Penang,
and as far south as Indonesia
The word Peranakan is also used to describe Indonesian Chinese. In
both Malay and Bahasa Indonesia 'Peranakan' means 'descendants'.
Babas refer to the male descendants and the Nyonyas the
female.
Most Peranakan are of Hokkien ancestry, although a fair
denomination of them are of the Teochew or Cantonese descent.
Whether there was ever any intermarriage with the indigenous Malay
people is a matter for debate: written records from the 19th and
early 20th centuries show that Peranakan men usually took brides
from within the local Peranakan community. Peranakan families also
commonly imported brides from China and sent their daughters to
China to find husbands. If a Chinese man took a Malay bride, he
usually became assimilated into the Malay community and converted
to Islam, rather than his bride remaining within the Peranakan
community. The greatest proponent of the theory of intermarriage is
Felix Chia who based his theory on minimal evidence.
By the middle of the Twentieth century, most Peranakan were English
educated, as a result of the British colonisation of Malaya, and
the natural propensity of these people to embrace new cultures.
Because the Peranakans readily embraced English culture and
education, administrative and civil service posts were often filled
by prominent Straits Chinese. The Peranakan community thereby
became very influential in Malacca and Singapore and were known
also as the King's Chinese. Common vocations were as merchants,
traders, and general intermediaries between China and the
West.
Historical and cultural items consistent with Baba culture may be
found on Heereen Street and Jonker Street in Malacca, Malaysia, and
in the Peranakan Museum in Singapore. There one can find museums
displaying furnitures, foodwares, and even traditional clothes of
the Baba and Nonya.
The Peranakans have taken elements from both cultures, for instance
from their Malay influence a unique (and very tasty) cuisine has
developed making use of the abundant spices found in Malaysia
(examples are Chicken Kapitan, a dry chicken curry, and Inchi
Kabin, a Nyonya version of fried chicken). The women (Nyonyas) have
taken to wearing the baju kebaya (a Malay dress, seen most notably
as the uniform of Malaysia Airlines' female flight attendants).
However, most of the Peranakans eschewed Islam, preferring the
ancestral worship of the Chinese, although some have now converted
to Christianity. The wedding ceremony of the Peranakan is mostly
Chinese, and is one of the most fascinating wedding ceremonies in
Malaysia.
Their language, Baba Malay, is a dialect of the Malay language,
which contains many Hokkien words. It is a dying language and tends
to be used only by members of the older generation. In Singapore,
the younger generation has been forced by government policies to
learn Mandarin Chinese instead of Malay; while in Malaysia, the
rigorous standardisation of Malay has led to a disappearance of the
unique characteristics of Baba Malay.
