Little Nyonya, The Peranakans

I can't remember a thing about us being Baba-nyonya like as was seen in 'Little Nyonya' the series drama except for, I was told when I was a girl by my maternal grandma, we are of Baba and Nyonya. The only person I saw wearing Nyonya Kebayas (peranakan outfits) was my Ah Chor (great-grandmother) she was very old and bedridden, senile and could not remember a thing when I was a little girl. I can't remember ever spoken to her except for when we were back in Kuching during CNY, we would visit her and call her 'Ah Chor'. I remember seeing her 'kerongsong' (brooches) and her silver chain-link belt (belt to secure sarong a Nyonya's wearing) in her room. Apart from that, the traditions of Peranakan were not practiced in my great-grandmother's house.

Today, the Peranakan culture is a dying legacy. What I've learned from 'Little Nyonya' was an insights that informally telling me, I'm a Nyonya! Wow! I've never knew it was tough to be a Nyonya in a Peranakan home but I think, I'm qualified, naturally I love cooking, sewing, stitching and bonding embroidery for Kebayas and collecting kebayas. Hehehehe~ But thank goodness, I was not born during that time.

Legend has it that around 1459. Princess Hang Li-Poh, the daughter of the Chinese emperor, married Sultan Mansur Shah of Malacca. Five hundred handmaidens, who accompanied the Princess on board the ship bound for Malacca, were given away as brides to the Malacca court officials. Some believe the Peranakans are descendants of these court-centered marriages in Malacca.

These Peranakans were the wealthy people looked upon by the locals in the early days. They were proud to be called Babas and Nyonyas and adopted many Malay customs.

The Peranakan culture is a rich blend of the Chinese and Malay cultures but have retained the traditions of ancestor worship of the Chinese, celebrating CNY and having 'Babi Ponteh' (Braised Pork in fermented soy sauce with mushrooms) as their must have dish at 'Tok Panjang' feasts. Every Nyonya must know how to cook 'Babi Ponteh' to please the in-laws....

They are rich in both Malay and Chinese cultures. For me, I reckon the Peranakans are very Chinese and yet they are also very Malay.

Although the 'Little Nyonya' series drama was done in Mandarin, the original Babas and Nyonyas did not communicate in Mandarin. Most of the old Peranakans can't speak Mandarin, they usually chat and joke heartily in Malay with a mixture of Hokkien dialect in between. For example, 'Tok Panjang' (tok is table in Hokkien and panjang is long in Malay) thus 'tok panjang' is long table for dining in Peranakan homes.

Do you know, the famous songs 'Rasa Sayang' and 'Chan Mali Chan' were originated and sang by the Peranakans at weddings. The Peranakan weddings were usually held grandly that lasted for 12 days.

And the well famous 'nasi lemak' (coconut rice) was an important cuisine at a Peranakan wedding. Where the groom's parents will prepare nasi lemak to the bride's parents when they visit them on the 12th day of the wedding. The 'nasi lemak' served to the bride's parents will indicate the virginity of the bride after the first night.

The Peranakans were strict with their moral rules, daughters were not allowed to go out of the house. The first generation Peranakan's daughters as was told by my grandma were 'bound feet' (feet binding of young girls practiced in China until the early part of this century).

Most of them were home schooled and taught how to cook, sew and beading shoes as early as before they reach their puberty. The head of a Peranakan family is typically a matriarch. The marriages were usually forced. The great-grandmother if she is still alive is the head of the house who chooses their male heirs' wives.

A good wife is very important to secure the family's name and to continue the family line although at the end of the day, a Nyonya's life revolves around the kitchen. She must be a wife not only pretty but also capable in culinary skills able to cook Peranakan cuisines, sewing to beading shoes and passing down the cultures to their children.

Hmmm... growing up in a Peranakan home is not easy for a girl.

The early Peranakans were competitive people in everything, as most were of the prominent background, they match made and married among their own Peranakans.

Every once in a while, a feast called 'Tok Panjang' will be held to invite other prominent Peranakans to the house where feasting will be celebrated with singing 'pantus', 'joget' and 'gendang' it will also be a time for male heirs of the family to eye their future to be wives.

At 'Tok Panjang' feast, the future bride candidates will have to go through competitions not only competing in who's the best in stitching embroidery, beading shoes and cooking but also competing in winning the hearts of the great grandmother, grandmother, mother and son of the house with their charm and beauty at most of the time, the women vie with other women for a man in Peranakan community :|

The daughters of Peranakan were always quote as, "a married daughter is like splashed water" but it was important to find them good husbands to keep them.

Thus, over the weekend, I completed partially the history of the Peranakan and what I like about 'Little Nyonya' is not its melodramatic drama, but the reviving of the dying legacy of the Peranakan by the Mediacorp.

I must say, I give salute to Mediacorp TV Singapore for their efforts, research and putting them together to make an insightful drama of a gradual extinction Peranakan culture.