MalayMail-Aug 6
When you hear the word “Peranakan”, you would usually picture the babas and nyonyas living along the west coast of peninsular Malaysia. Truth is, there is more than one Peranakan community and they also extend beyond Malaysian shores. The term “Peranakan” has its roots in the Malay words for “local born” or “local descendants” and originally referred to foreign migrants who settled in Tanah Melayu and the Malay archipelago pre-independence and set up families and businesses locally. For most Malaysians below a certain age, the Peranakan Chinese are probably the most familiar group as aspects of their culture from their cuisine to their dress are highly visible to this day. Broadly speaking, the Peranakan Chinese are descendants of Chinese traders who settled in Malacca and the coastal areas of Java and Sumatra as early as the 15th century. Due to restrictions on Chinese women leaving China, those traders married local South-east Asians. By the 19th century, these Peranakan had moved to the bustling ports of Penang and Singapore during the British colonial expansion, flourishing as merchants and later as professionals. While the term Peranakan Chinese, or baba and nyonya immediately bring to mind the former Straits Settlement states like Penang, Melaka, and Singapore along the west coast, this community can also be found in Kelantan, Terengganu, and even in Thailand. Last year, news portal Free Malaysia Today reported the existence of a travelogue titled “Hai Lu” that documented the voyages of a Chinese mariner named Xie Qing Gao from 1782 to 1795 who recorded that a community of Hokkien Chinese had been established in a Kelantan port area. The traditional villages of Kelantan’s Peranakan Chinese community are said to be mostly found along the riverbanks of Sungai Kelantan, Sungai Pengkalan Datu, and Sungai Kemasin. Read more at: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/08/06/malaysias-peranakan-people-more-than-just-baba-and-nyonya-or-straits-settlement-chinese/146081
