Introduction of Nyonya and Baba Wedding

The Baba Nyonya community; also known as Cina Peranakan is one of the unique community found in Melaka. This community has existed before the 15th century due to intermarriages between the Chinese traders and local Malays.

Their existence could be seen clearly based on their unique house architecture, attire (Kebaya Nyonya & Kasut manek-manek), cooking and language (Bahasa Peranakan).

A traditional Baba Nyonya Wedding or Peranakan Wedding is loaded with complex rites preparations and numerous ceremonies which lasts up to 12 days! It’s a very tedious process (both in preparations, time and money) that most of the younger generation prefers to skip some of the ceremonies.

Similar like their Chinese counterpart, the Peranakan put a great emphasis on choosing auspicious dates and times. However, their taboos are much more and strictly observed than the Chinese.



References:
Malaysia:Melaka.(2008-2009)City Turtle:Baba Nyonya Wedding.Retrieved April 3,2010,from http://www.cityturtle.com/Baba_Nyonya_Wedding.html

Nyonya Clothes

In the past, women wore a sarong with kebaya top baju panjang or kebaya similar to the Malays. The baju kebaya is transparent and displays motifs such as flowers, birds, goldfish and peacock. The more intricate the pattern the more expensive. It can cost anything between RM600 and RM1,000.

References:

Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia Chinese Association: MALAYSIA POTPOURRI: The Baba/Nyonya community. Retrieved April 3,2010, from href="http://www.mca.org.my/ENGLISH/MOVEMENTCHINESEGUILDS/Pages/MALAYSIANPOTPOURRITheBabaNyonyacommunity.aspx">http://www.mca.org.my/ENGLISH/MOVEMENTCHINESEGUILDS/Pages/MALAYSIANPOTPOURRITheBabaNyonyacommunity.aspx

What is Nyonya food

Nyonya food contains many of the traditional ingredients of Chinese food and Malay spices and herbs, Nyonya cuisine is eclectically seasoned and different than either Chinese or Malay food. It is fusion cuisine at it's best! As in Malay cooking, a key ingredient in Nyonya cuisine is belacan. Best described as a natural flavor enhancer, belacan is what gives many of the foods from Southeast Asia - Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam - that authentic zest and flavor underlying the dense fabric of spice and herbs!

Nyonya cooking in the South has an Indonesian influence. The food is generally sweeter, richer with liberal use of coconut milk and more traditional Malay spices. In Malacca especially, Nyonya cooking is heavily influenced by Portuguese-Eurasian style of cooking. Many Nyonya dishes are indistinguishable from Portuguese-Eurasian dishes, with both kitchens using similar ingredients and methods of cooking.

Nyonya cooking is not only about the blending of pungent roots but also the long marinating of meats and seafood before it is cooked. Fresh herbs such as lemongrass, lengkuas [galangal or wild ginger] and kunyit [turmeric root] are pounded, more often than not, by hand using a granite mortar & pestle. Chilies, candlenuts, shallots and belacan are a must in most Nyonya dishes. Aromatic leaves such as kaffir lime leaves, pandan or pandanus [screwpine leaves], daun salam [fresh bay leaves] and daun kunyit [turmeric leaves] add 'Nyonya zest' to it's wonderful cookery.

One can easily spot authentic Nyonya food in Malaysia by its cooking style and the word 'Nyonya, sometimes spelt 'Nonya', as a prefix. Nyonya food is in a unique gastronomic realm all of it's own - with specific and subtle nuances of tastes and flavors, quite undiscovered still in the international culinary world.

Nyonya cuisine is also famous for it's Kuih [cake or dessert]. Nyonya desserts are varied and extraordinary. They are strongly Malay influenced - made from local ingredients such as sweet potato, yams, agar agar, gula Melaka [palm sugar], coconut milk, glutinous rice - and Chinese ingredients such as red beans, green beans or mung beans. The ubiquitous vanilla bean used for essence is replaced by a local plant leaf Pandan or Pandanus [Screwpine leaves], giving Nyonya desserts it's signature quintessence!




References:
Malaysia. Malaysian Food: What is Nyonya Food? Retrieves April 2,2010, from http://www.malaysianfood.net/Nyonyafood.html

Culture Of Baba Nyonya

Culture
The Nyonya Baba were partially assimilated into the Malay culture, especially in food, dress and language used, while retaining some of the Chinese traditions and culture, like religion, name, folk medicine and festival celebrations, thereby creating a new kind of mixed culture of their country of origin with local, among those, like “Nyonya cuisine “ has developed the spices of Malay cuisine, examples are curry recipe cooking, Inchi Kabin, Chicken Kapitan, fried or cry chicken & sea foods, with local spicy & spicery. Wearing the Baju Kebaya. Most of the Peranakan are not Muslim, but have retained the ancestral worship tradition of the Chinese, especially of their wedding ceremony is largely based upon the Chinese tradition.

Food and eating patterns


The Baba cuisine is influenced by the Malay culture and is more spicy, containing ketumbar, cinnamon stick, star anise, serai, kunyit and belacan. At home, most Babas use their hands to eat.

Language
The language of the Peranakans, Baba Malay (Bahasa Melayu Baba) , is a dialect of the Malay language (Bahasa Melayu), which contains many Hokkien words.They are more fluent in Malay and English than Chinese. It is a dying language and contemporary use is mainly limited to members of the older generation; this is indicative also of the Peranakan culture at large.




References:
Malaysia:Melaka.(July 1,2005)House of Museum Cafe:History of Nyonya Baba (Peranakan)Retrieved April 1, 2010, from http://www.jonker88.com/?q=history_of_nyonya_baba
Les Parkin.(2006).BABA-Nyonya: A Famous Culture in Malacca. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from http://www.koyli.com/babanyonya.htm
Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia Chinese Association: MALAYSIA POTPOURRI: The Baba/Nyonya community. Retrieved April 3,2010, from http://www.mca.org.my/ENGLISH/MOVEMENTCHINESEGUILDS/Pages/MALAYSIANPOTPOURRITheBabaNyonyacommunity.aspx

Story Of Baba Baba Nyonya

In the 15th century, the city states of the Malay Peninsula often paid tribute to various kingdoms such as the kingdoms of China and Siam. Close relations with China were established in early 15th century, during the reign of Parameswara, when Zheng He visited Malacca. In return for such tribute, a princess of China, Hang Li Po was presented as a gift to Sultan Mansur Shah, the Sultan of Malacca, at that time (+/-1459 AD). The royalty and servants who accompanied the princess initially settled in Bukit Cina and eventually grew into a class of straits-born Chinese known as the Peranakan. The Peranakan retained most of their ethnic and religious origins (ancestor worship), but assimilated the language and culture of the Malays. They developed a unique culture and distinct foods. A lot of sources claim that the early Peranakan inter-married with the local Malay population. However, the lack of physical resemblances have also led many experts to believe that the Peranakan Chinese ethnicity has hardly diluted. The Peranakan often sent their sons and daughters to China to look for spouses. Also, the religion of the local Malay population was Islam which forbids inter-marriage with other religions without conversion first. In the early 1800s, new Chinese immigrants to the Straits Settlements bolstered the Peranakan population.

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 who were able to easily 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 interaction with the British also caused many in the community to convert to Christianity. The Peranakan community thereby became very influential in Malacca and Singapore and were known also as the King's Chinese due to their perceived loyalty to the British Crown. Because of the interaction of the different cultures and languages that Peranakans had, up to the mid-1900s, most Peranakans were trilingual, able to converse with Chinese, Malays and the British. Common vocations were as merchants, traders, and general intermediaries between China, Malaya and the West; the latter was especially valued by the British, since the Babas also enjoyed good relations with the Malay community and served as advisors to the royal Malay courts. In fact the term "Baba" is an honorific term in Malay; probably derived from Hindi/Sanskrit [Baba: literally means grandfather or father, and is used as a term of reverence and affection for an elderly gentleman.

References:

Les Parkin.(2006).BABA-Nyonya: A Famous Culture in Malacca. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from http://www.koyli.com/babanyonya.htm

History of Melaka Baba Nyonya

The origins of Baba Nyonya can be traced back to centuries ago when the Chinese emigrated from China to the British Straits Settlement of Melaka, Singapore, Penang and also Java of Indonesia. The Chinese then married the local females and their distinct background, cultures and customs blended together harmoniously and became baba nyonya in “Peranakan” culture.

“Peranakan” means descendent in Malay. It is another local term for them. “Baba” refers to the male while “nyonya” is female. Beside, they are also being known as “Straits-born Chinese”. This is a very unique culture in Melaka where the Chinese culture is assimilated into Malay customs. During the ancient time, they retained some practices of Chinese cultures but at the same time adapted local Malay traditions in order to minimize the culture shock.


References:
Malaysia. malaysiavacationguide.com: Melaka Baba Nyonya. Retrieved April 1, 2010, from http://www.malaysiavacationguide.com/baba-nyonya.html

Introduction 2

Last Monday, my lecturer showed the class a geography blog done by a few classmates. When he showed Safiah’s blog, I noticed it was about Singapore Malay culture and where the Malays originated from. After seeing the blog, my lecturer told us that to do a perfect blog, we must have interesting topics to work on.

I remember when I first came to Singapore, a guy on the plane asked me about Melaka nyonya and baba history. I could not answer him because I had no information on them. After checking up their history and culture, I have an interested in them. I would like to start a blog to write about them.

I went to Melaka twice, once, when I was nine years old and the second time when I was seventeen. The first time I was totally ignorant about the nyonyas ant the babas, their origin and their culture. It was a start then because the second time I was in Melaka, I was more curious and began to ask around about their customs, food and dressing. I was interested in the way spices were used in the food. In the Melaka museum, I saw a lot of their household wares and clothes on exhibit but I didn’t have any in-depth history about them.

From now on, I will write about them in the blog. If you are interested in them, please read about them in my blog.