Sunday, January 01, 2012

Understanding the Nonya and Baba @ Peranakan Museum (Singapore)

The popularity of Little Nonya (小娘惹), a Singapore-made drama, has generated a lot of interest in the Peranakan culture that has its origins from Southeast Asia.

To be honest, before the drama was screened on TV, i knew almost nothing about this non-official ethnic group except for its appetising desserts that have influences from the Chinese and Malay/Indonesian.

Thankfully, we have in Singapore a museum specially dedicated to this unique culture and in view of the museums (under National Heritage Board) open house during the festive holiday, the Gang of Three (Alex was again busy with his work) happily made their way down to Peranakan Museum.

Housed within the Old Tao Nan School building built between 1910 and 1912, the museum has ten permanent galleries that are comprehensive enough for any Little Nonya fans to indulge themselves in the culture that is similar yet different from official ethnic groups.

Gallery One
Origins
For some Singaporeans, they have no idea what differentiate a Peranakan from (for example) any Singaporean Chinese as they look the same, talk the same and eat the same kind of food in school.

Basically, the term "Peranakan" means a person of mixed ethnic groups (need not necessarily be Chinese and Malay) and according to what i understand, anybody with the Chinese surname "Ooi" or "Wee" is usually Chinese Peranakan.

Gallery Two to Five
Wedding
All this while, i thought Chinese wedding is the most cumbersome ceremony in the world as it involves too much preparation and meticulous planning.

It turns out that Peranakan wedding is worse and last for twelve long days! I suspect this practice may not be so common in this contemporary age when time never seems to be enough and convenience is preferred.

Giving a raw leg of pork to the bridegroom implies that his family is receiving a virgin bride (purity is highly regarded decades ago).

Only a small portion was kept by the bridegroom. Reasons? Visit the museum for the answers! :P

Golden headdress and jewellery for the bride.

Wedding trays with elaborate carvings and tiny statues.

Yet another wedding item; silver teapot set (looks golden to me). Gold and silver, as with Chinese, signify status and prosperity for which Peranakans are well known for in the past due to their elite standing during the colonial period.

Peranakan beadwork embroidery is a damn beautiful artwork (no doubt painstakingly hard to make as well); this tablecloth is made up of a million glass beads that sparkle brightly under the spotlight.

Another picture of a beadwork wallet with birds and flowers. 

To make things interesting, the two portraits will start talking to each other every hour. I didn't manage to catch their conversation this time although i remember it to be quite entertaining and informative the first time i was at the museum.

An enactment of the wedding procession. Some people might find this to be a bit eerie but this is seriously nothing compared to the gallery on religion.

Traditional bed for the newlyweds. 

Gallery Six
Nonya
Like many Chinese women before the modern age, nonyas were required to learn the basics on cooking, sewing andembroideryto prepare them for married life.

Nonya dressing, even till now, is commonly worn on the streets and i am not surprised even if it manages to gain the same level of foothold as cheongsam in the future. 

Amazingly, these batik sarongs and laced kebayas have a relatively short history and were adopted by the Peranakan Chinese only in the 1920s.

Peranakan clothings are on hand if you want to dress like a Baba or Nonya for a short while. A self-service photo taking machine (with options on backgrounds etc) is available close by.

Gallery Seven
Religion
Ethnic Peranakans are not known for their grasp of the Chinese language. However, they adopt almost the same traditional religious practices like the Chinese.

Due to their close relationships with the colonial masters, some Peranakans started switching to Christianity and as taken from the information plaque, this Victorian bell jar probably celebrated such a religious conversion.

Ancestral altar - yet another traditional Chinese practice displayed in a different way. The two big Chinese characters were also prominently featured in Little Nonya.

Funerals for Peranakans are also mentioned in this gallery. Death is almost a taboo subject in Asian museums due to its inauspicious inference and i am glad this museum features this.

There's even a mock up coffin located behind the main altar and a tape recording with wailing voices of the family members! It would be interesting to find out from the night keeper if there's any weird happening after dusk. 

Gallery Eight
Public Life
For native Singaporeans who have gone through Singapore history in Secondary one and two, you might be able to identify some of these prominent Peranakans.  

Gallery Nine
Food and Feasting
Warning: There's no food here so don't expect sampling of authentic Nonya cuisine when there are ample restaurants and eateries located in Katong to serve the purpose.

Instead, visitors are educated on the dining customs and tableware. Kam Cheng, the picture above, is a porcelain serving container for food, desserts and water. I used to think its purpose is to contain ashes of the dead.. Choy!

An elaborate set up of dinner ware of a wealthy Peranakan family.

This set of dinner ware, with motifs of butterflies and flowers, was specially made for Yap Ah Loy, founder of Kuala Lumpur, the current capital of Malaysia. 

Gallery Ten
Conversations
The picture above is not related to the gallery (just the staircases leading to the different levels)! In a nutshell, gallery ten touches on the evolution of Peranakan culture over the years and its future. 

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Location
39, Armenian Street

Opening Hours
As above.

Additional Information
For admission charges and other information, please visit

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