the peranakan story
MANY Peranakans or Straits-born individuals trace their origins to 15th century Malacca, where it is believed that Chinese traders at that time married local Malay women or the Bataks from Sumatra.
While the term generally refers to people of mixed ChineseMalay/Indonesia heritage, it is hard to determine its exact origin.
However, not all Peranakans or “local born” are of Chinese ancestry. There are smaller but significant Peranakan communities as well, known as the Chitty (also known as Indian Peranakans) and the Eurasian Peranakans, also known as the Serani or Kristang (of Portuguese-Malay ancestry).
Each of these communities have added to the diversity of the region, contributing and infusing their own unique blend of customs, traditions and language.
While the Peranakan culture encompasses an elaborate assortment of food, jewellery, architecture and more, the beauty and complexity of the culture tends to remain hidden within the communities itself.
In A Peranakan Heritage, a specially-curated programme about the Peranakan culture, airing on the National Geographic Channel (Astro channel 553 & 575), viewers are invited to take a deeper look into the rich culture.
A specially-curated programme on NatGeo showcases the unique Peranakan communities here, writes Loong Wai Ting
AN EYE for PERANAKAN CULTURE Portraits Of The Peranakan showcases Malacca-born Sherman Ong’s works as he introduces the essence of the Peranakan culture through his camera lens.
To be presented in a series of five vignettes or short snippets, which will be slotted in between programmes, Ong’s work will mainly highlight the Peranakan descendants and the culture they are preserving.
By using his skills in photography, filmmaking and storytelling, he hopes to express the Peranakan culture better.
“I keep thinking about showcasing the Peranakan culture through the lenses. But I’m afraid I don’t do enough justice to it. In fact, Peranakan culture is much more complex. It is not just about the Babas and Nyonyas but also the Chitty and Eurasians,” says Ong, a seventh generation Peranakan at the programme’s launch.
The former Malacca High School student also revealed that his grandfather once helped built the clock tower in Malacca.
For those not in the know, Ong is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker, who has showcased his work around the world, from Singapore and the Netherlands, to Indonesia and Venice, Italy.
Ong directed the Norwegian-DanishSingapore film Lucy & I, which was featured at the Fukuoka Triennale, an international contemporary art exhibition held every three years in Japan, in 2014.
His love for photography started at 10, when his father gave him his first Kodak camera.
“It was a Kodak Instamatic box camera. My very first photos were of my pets as I wanted to understand them. The camera came in handy,” he reminisces.
His interest deepened when he started volunteering as an usher at the Singapore International Film Festival, while studying at the National University of Singapore.
“There wasn’t a particular film that grabbed my attention per se, but being exposed to such a broad range of world movies, sometimes five films in a day, I started to see how I could compose and use images to convey a message. It opened my eyes to what I could do with film and a camera. My granduncle was also a projectionist at the Sun cinema in Malacca so I grew up watching a lot of American and Hong Kong films.”
PERANAKAN LINEAGE
On his thoughts about the Peranakan culture and the common misconceptions, Ong says it is more complex than a marriage between a Chinese and a Malay.
“Most people in Malaysia would think that a Peranakan is the offspring of an inter-marriage between a Chinese and a Malay. It’s more than that. It was a time when only Chinese men could leave China. Many of them came as merchants and traders and married local women who are indigenous to this region like the presentday Malays, Thais and Indonesians. At that time they could have been Batak, Bugis, Siamese, Minang or Javanese.
“Also, their offspring grew up speaking the languages of the mother but took on the identity of the father. So over a few generations, this group of people would intermarry with one another as a way to build kinship, business ties and wealth. This group would eventually have a community that is large enough to fossilise an identity known as the Straits Born Chinese (Baba and Nyonya), which eventually became known as the Chinese Peranakan,” says Ong.
He adds: “This would have taken centuries to develop, adapting and preserving their Chinese traditions and customs while acculturating indigenous influences to create a unique hybrid identity,” he explains.
In sharing his own Peranakan story, Ong relates how his ancestors helped build the Tan Beng Swee Clock Tower outside the Stadthuys building.
“Both my parents are Peranakans and my ancestors contributed towards the building of the Tan Kim Seng Bridge linking Jonker Street with the Stadthuys/ Clock Tower in Malacca. The cost of building the original bridge bearing his name in Malacca in 1862 was defrayed by Tan Kim Seng. I am a descendant of Tan Kim Seng through my maternal grandmother.
“From Tan Kim Seng to myself, we are seven generations apart. Kim Seng was a 3rd generation Straits Born Chinese. Kim Seng’s grandson Tan Jiak Kim later built the Tan Beng Swee Clock Tower outside the Stadthuys as a gift to the people of Malacca in 1886 to fulfil the desires of his father, Tan Beng Swee. Beng Swee was the son of Kim Seng, who donated both the bridge nearby to the clock tower and land for the Jelutong Chinese cemetery in Malacca,” shares Ong.
He is currently working on a series of films about migration and diaspora, which will be presented at the Yinchuan Biennale in China in September. One of the films stars Datuk Rahim Razali.
In In Search Of The Straits Born With Julian Davison (airing today at 10pm), join the historian and anthropologist as he explores the origin of the Straitsborn in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, foodies, remember to tune in to Gok’s Chinese Takeaway — Malacca, Malaysia on Aug 3 at 10pm.
Renowned British fashion stylist, TV presenter and Chinese cookbook writer Gok Wan explores the fusion of food in Malaysia, especially the complex and detailed food preparation of the Baba Nyonya.
Those interested in Ong’s work can view them on his website at www.shermanong.com