The Peranakan Association Singapore 2014 Issue 4

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31 26 contents 11 4I S S U E • 2014 www.peranakan.org.sg EDITORIAL THEATRE 3 Changes Ahead 29 Baba Sedia! (Attention!) O n the cover & Page 1 7 • Portrait of 30 Of Heartbreak and Healing Cheang Hong Lim by an unknown photographer, FEATURES 1870s. 4 Recapturing the Baba Mojo BOOKS 8 Growing Up in My Very 31 There was a Peranakan Photograph from the collection Own Joo Chiat Woman Who Lived in a of Mr and Mrs Lee Kip Lee. 11 Baba Dandy Shoe 18 Regal Moments 20 The Peranakans are EVENTS Received in London 32 Ikebana goes Peranakan 20 The Kebaya Goes to 33 A Trip throughTime Buckingham Palace Who is a Chetti Melaka? 21 And Closer to Home Inspecting the Troops NOTICEBOARD 34 Peranakan Associations Chakap Chakap in the Region 22 Growing Up Baba 24 A Peranakan New Year DIRECTORY Eucharistic Celebration 35 The Peranakan Guide, Singapore DALAM DAPOR 26 All in the Family CHAKAP HABIS 36 The Life Cycle of a Baba THE PERANAKAN ASSOCIATION SINGAPORE President: Peter Wee • First Vice-President: Alan Koh • Second Vice-President: Chan Eng Thai • Honorary Secretary: Ee Sin Soo • Assistant Honorary Secretary: Gwen Ong • Treasurer: Angeline Kong • Assistant Treasurer: Edmond Wong • Committee Members: Kevin Aeria, Monica Alsagoff, Gavin Chan Linda Chee, Zan Ho, Emeric Lau • For enquiries please contact Peter Wee at +65 63451220 THE PERANAKAN MAGAZINE • Editor: Linda Chee • Assistant Editor: Emeric Lau • Editorial Committee Members: Colin Chee, Bryan Tan • Webmaster: Edmond Wong • Designer: Michelle Yap • Administrative Manager: Sean Tan • Advertising Manager: Alvin Sng • For advertising enquiries, please contact Alvin Sng at 9839 8188 The Peranakan is published by The Peranakan Association Singapore, Raffles City PO Box 1640, Singapore 911755. Email:[email protected] • Printer: Lithographic Print House Pte Ltd. MCI (P) 138/10/2014 1 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

2 | ISSUE 4 • 2014 Like us at Kim Poh Hong Goldsmith

editorial changes ahead My father Lee Kip Lee, whose M“ alu sia.” (“So embarrassing.”) Baba Alan Koh, our boyhood dream First Vice-President, had an earful over the phone was to become a newspaper from a disgruntled nyonya after our Exposed! journalist, started the Peranakan newsletter in Issue 3, 2014 was out. Other nyonyas called Baba Peter Wee, our 1994. He got me to lay it President, complaining over our audacity in showing the unseen side out for him on my newly- of Peranakan society. We are delighted. Once in a while the magazine acquired Mac Classic team likes to try something different. We are glad to get responses, computer. We have been at positive or otherwise! this together for 20 years now. A year ago, when From a photo essay on nyonyas who go au naturel, in this issue he was 91, he suffered a Baba Peter Lee moves on to another visual essay that delves into the mild stroke, and so family world of stylish babas in the 19th century. At this point, the team would priorities have changed. He like to say a million thanks to Peter for his 20 years of service to the has always believed in the magazine - from the time when he and his father, Uncle Kip, printed it importance of continuity as a two-pager, to the glossy product that readers compliment us with and how a good handover today. We will miss him and Uncle Kip as Advisers. But, thankfully, we facilitates this. We graduated can still look forward to Peter as the erudite writer. from editors to advisers, passing the mantle to Linda We also bid farewell, with much reluctance, to our super-efficient Chee and her team, and Administrative Manager, Low Whee Hoon, who has been with us for now it is time to take our nine years, and Art Director John Lee, who literally transformed the leave of the committee to look of the magazine over the past two years. Two young babas have make way for new members, come on board - Sean Tan, who takes over from Whee Hoon, and and new ideas. We wish writer, Bryan Tan. Edmond Wong returns to the team as Webmaster the magazine and the after a break of three years. association every success, and that it will continue to This will be our last year as a quarterly magazine. In 2015, The inspire, amuse, and unite Peranakan will be produced twice a year. Working on four issues has everyone interested in been intense, though enjoyable, for our team of volunteers. After so things Peranakans. May the many years, we have decided to have more room to work on each issue. magazine long perpetuate We hope you will understand. Do continue to give us feedback. the grand Peranakan spirit. Panjang panjang umor! Best wishes for the New Year. - Peter Lee Linda Chee Editor Warmest congratulations to Baba Alvin Tan, artistic director of The Necessary Stage, upon being conferred the Cultural Medallion. We take pride that this is an accolade to the creativity of the Peranakans. Since it was introduced in 1979, two other babas, Dick Lee and Ivan Heng, have been awarded Singapore’s highest cultural honour. Copyright is by the publisher. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.The Peranakan magazine and The Peranakan Association Singapore disclaim all responsibilities in the articles herein, and state that the views expressed in them, if any, are those of the writers and not theirs.They assume no responsibility for unsolicited materials or articles published herein and state that the writers are wholly responsible for the veracity and authenticity of their articles. 3 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

feature threecbaapbtaurminogjo  Baba Desmond Sim recalls the travails of growing up Peranakan Desmond paints from scenes he misses, and moments he holds dear.This painting done eight years ago is titled Little Baba’s Big Dreams. 4 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

Being Baba was never easy, and still remains difficult for me. My father, bless his soul, was a singkeh Teochew man who moved in with my nyonya mother’s extended Peranakan family home (I suspect) after tasting my Teochew nyonya maternal grandmother’s amazing food. So for the first seven years of my life, I assumed that everyone’s female relatives swanned around in elegant kebayas and colourful floral sarongs. I believed that every ways that some hard core Chinese were not. I was refrigerator held a handy bottle of crunchy, tangy living with so much richness, but not appreciating it achar and fiery sambal belachan. And I thought the at all…I just remembered being made to feel different constant melange of gossip, code-switching from and left out. English to Hokkien to Malay to Peranakan patois and As I grew into my teens, I began to seriously Teochew, was a norm in all Singaporean homes. explore this Peranakan-ness in me. I was a very Boy was I wrong. And I found out soon enough. methodical scholar in my teens and early 20’s. As soon as I was old I was told Peranakans enough for sleepovers at were first Confucian, and friends’ homes, I found that Taoist or Buddhist, and there were local Chinese then Christian… and so, I families who loved their proceeded to study all these food bland! Bleah. They look with a fanatic fervour during puzzled when I asked for and outside of philosophy sambal belachan and chilli. classes at the National “If you kill your tastebuds, University of Singapore. But how can you taste your food?” those philosophies, though these singkehs asked me with helping to shape the culture, genuine concern written all were not unique to it. I over their faces. I just smiled needed something more. And lamely and missed granny’s so I started collecting the ayam buah keluak at the material culture – old kebayas, dinner tables of my singkeh old sarongs and batiks, Chinese friend’s homes. antique photos, porcelain, On the buses, it was not some furniture, silver and uncommon to be told off jewellery – to study and learn. by Mandarin-speaking bus Professor Ho Wing Meng’s drivers and conductors for (he taught me philosophy at piping up in English or the university too) essential patois. They scolded me for At the 2012 Peranakan Convention where, to my surprise,  books on Peranakan material being Chinese but unable to I won one of the best dressed prizes. culture were always on my speak Chinese well. That was coffee table and always read when I was made aware of the orang china, bukan happily. I knew more after a few years, after reading all china (OCBC) label that singkeh chauvinists stuck on the books, and handling enough of the actual bits and us. Again I smiled weakly and did my best with my pieces of Peranakanalia I had found in antique shops funny-sounding Mandarin. and acquired - but that was still not putting my finger At that young age, being Baba did not make much on being a Peranakan. sense. It made me feel alienated from all the others who were not like us – those people (especially Painting Nyonyas classically-educated Chinese) who thought nothing Then, whilst on this journey to find my Peranakan of making me feel culturally diluted, compromised self, I started doing something interesting. I had or inaccurate. I was too busy trying to fit in and started writing plays and painting in my teens, overlooked the fact that being Peranakan meant I something to keep myself busy - to cope with my got to enjoy so many things from the culture - the wildly untamed imagination and nervous young tea dances, all the wonderful kueh kueh and cuisine energy. I wrote about life in Singapore as I saw dished out by kinfolk and family friends, the affinity it, and won some awards for having tried. Then I for local craft, fabrics, creativity, and being connected experimented with painting in all styles and modes meaningfully to so many races and cultures in myriad – from still life, to surreal, to abstract. The paintings 5 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

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feature “create from what precious things and delicious food, being Peranakan is still unquantifiable. It is so very hard to apply a you know well, then list of bullet point factors that makes one Peranakan you will find the or not: all the practices, pantangs, foibles, food and material culture and belief systems, all that is heart of the matter. Peranakan. But there is more. ”were pretty and interesting, but nothing seemed to Tough and spirited gel for me. It was as if I was doing a lot of these things Being a person in a genuine hybridised culture simply to show off that I could do them. While the results seemed well liked by my audience, I wasn’t takes courage, strength and thick skin. People feeling anything deep or meaningful about my endeavours. will doubt you, and laugh and call you names for Then one day, at a writing workshop conducted by being different, for sticking out. People will mock a renowned foreign playwright, I learnt something important – “create from what you know well, then your difference or gossip about our obstinate you will find the heart of the matter”. And so I tried to do exactly that with my paintings. Instead of painting loudness and Chinese courtesans or western surrealist copies, I began to draw nyonyas, Peranakan children and the crass fierceness. actual lives that we led in the years past. I painted from scenes I missed, and moments I held dear. But you know And for the first time when my paintings were put what? We needed up for a show – I felt a tingle of pride. to be tough and So I plunged right in. Somehow, even when I was creating, taking artistic licence, reinventing, I was spirited in order very sure what felt authentic, and what was fake – in a colour combination, inflection, curve of a pot, drape to be special, in of a sarong, posture of a mother and her sleeping child wrapped in an old quilt… all these I had stored order to stand the in my head as a child, nurtured over the years and kept precious. I had somehow managed to free sometimes pointed the Baba in me on canvas. I was at last feeling and expressing as an artist. ridicule and Of course, I wasn’t quite sure about all this. I sometimes subtle thought I was just indulging myself and making people smile with the bright colours and warm- discriminations we hearted content. Those that loved and/or acquired my paintings were locals as well as foreigners. And had to put up with. many of them weren’t Peranakan. So I wasn’t quite sure if it was the Peranakan they recognised in my We also had to have works (I had started writing my first English language Peranakan plays as well) or that all this was just an immense sense exotica to novelty hunters. of humour and wit After more than a dozen exhibitions, at the opening of one of my solo shows, Mr Peter Wee, our to survive. Despite current TPAS President, came by after viewing my pieces and patted me on the shoulder. He said simply modernisation, and quietly, “All this… is very – Peranakan. I can feel them.” I gulped my thank you, but I had a tough time despite language blinking back my tears. I had needed to hear that so badly, and now instead of pushing it back, I was policies, despite so very proud of the label I wore then – and now. Peranakan. the push to You see, besides all the beautiful objects and simplify cultural definitions, we still persisted and insisted on being leh-cheh, complex, Postcards from Rosa, a fictional play elaborate and inspired by the stories that my maternal ornamented - as grandma Rosa, a Teochew nyonya, told me is the true nature about her early life. of our being. Faded and disappearing? I think evolved is more like it. As a culture, we have always been adapting and merging and accommodating in order to survive. And so we persist, with honesty and integrity – even when the going gets tough. Our forefathers endured a lot to get here and make a home on a rock, didn’t they? Why should we expect our journey to be any less arduous. Let’s just get on with it - laugh, argue, work hard, have a party, pray, hold hands, and enjoy all the beautiful things and yummilicious food life has to offer us! Today, I no longer have doubts. The Baba has recaptured his mojo. 7 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

feature growing up in my Baba Richard Tan gets nostalgic about his colourful childhood in Joo Chiat Iwas born in the mid- hide-and-seek amidst the rows of shophouses with 1950s and lived most spiral staircases. It was truly an age of innocence, of my childhood days ignited by wild imagination and fueled by the old folks warning us about “nanti kena tangkap” (kidnapped) with my paternal grandmother, by hantu tetek (big-breasted spirits)! My siblings and Baby Woon Bee Bee, at 175A, Joo Chiat Road. It was I would imagine flying boobies chasing, knocking us a colourful vicinity comprising a very long street out as we ran for our lives, or being squeezed and of shophouses where hawkers pushed their carts suffocated to death between two giant mammary while bechas (trishaws) trundled past shops making glands! Urgh! umbrellas, repairing bicycles, selling furniture, INTO THE SPIRIT WORLD provisions and a bustling motley of other trades. At night, bapoks (transgenders) and bar brawls were It was also a time when my early observation of commonplace. Chinese festivals became more acute as I wandered into the temple grounds behind grandma’s home. That In the early 1960s, when black-and-white television was my first brush with the heart-thumping ‘cheng came to Singapore, we would carry our wooden tong cheng’ drums to herald the ‘turun datok’ (spirits bangku (stools) or crates on our heads and plonk descending into the human world through mediums them in front of Rediffusion’s TV showroom, just in a trance). The drama of wayang pek-ji (Chinese to watch our favourite cartoons like Bugs Bunny, street opera) with the bold theatrical make-up, distinct Popeye and classics like Lassie, the Lone Ranger, facial expressions, larger-than-life mimed movements Tarzan, the Little Rascals and more. You can say this and stylised singing were so strange and yet, so was how our young kampong (village) spirit started. exciting! Soon after, Grandma Baby, whom we called Mama Biru because of a blue marking on her left temple, In the next lane, in stark contrast, another kind of decided she could afford to sewa (rent) a TV from spirit world prevailed – alcoholics who drank toddy Rediffusion. Then our home had our own following (fermented coconut wine) behind the Joo Chiat Post of kampong kawan kawan (friends) in grandma’s TV Office. By noon, there would be a few dozen of these corner, clashing with the clatter of mahjong tiles and mabok mamaks (drunk Indians) in high spirits as they chatty bibiks main cherki (elderly ladies gambling in a lintang pukang, terlentang (sprawled out) in drunken popular card game). Mama Biru was the jovial livewire stupor or dozed off by the road side. in the extended family. She drank her samsu (rice wine) on the rocks and was a prolific storyteller who As our embok embok (elderly Peranakan ladies) became livelier, the more she drank. I am the product would declare, “Minom sampay tak sedair diri!” of what she was! (drink until senseless!). This was also our first scary encounter with indecent exposure. “Ternampak pisang As young children, our magical playground was rajah! Suay sekali!” (can see their banana (penis)! the grubby and sandy back lanes, a haven for playing A Tan family reunion at Mama Biru’s 75th birthday dinner back in 1985. I am the moustachioed young man in red, with a full crop of hair then, standing behind. My father, Dicky Tan Kim Swee, is seated on the left of Mama Biru while my eldest aunty, or Mak Koh Margaret, is seated on the right, with her husband,Tio Tio Jack, standing on the extreme right. My mother, Lucy Ng Gek Choo, is standing behind my father. Standing in the centre, dressed in red, is my youngest aunty, Kochik Amy, who was match-made to Charlie, standing next to her, when she was 40 years old! The others are my younger siblings, from left: Sisters Diana, Susan, Iryn (deceased), younger brother Simon (partially hidden), Cherry (his wife) and Dolly. Standing in front is my nephew, Don, whose mother Daisy is not in the photograph. 8 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

very own joo chiat  bad luck!), lamented our embok embok, as they “sua out delicious kueh koswee, kueh sarlat, kueh lapis, kueh tentu kala, kalu pi main judi!” (”would surely lose in bengka, ondeh ondeh, giant kueh tair (pineapple tarts) gambling”).  and her legendary seaweed agar agar (jelly). Come nightfall, a different breed of ‘celestial’ beings would appear. Right behind our house, an Sometimes, Bibik Burok would even join in a game assembly of colourful ‘fairies’ would prance, sashay of cherki or just pegang tangan (stand-in) for a player their way down the road, and meet up for a fair taking a quick toilet/tea break. Then the joke would exchange of grooming and deportment workshops. be, “Kalu menang, gua punya! Kalu kalah, lu bayar!” (if Comparing their most outrageous lipstick shades you win, it’s mine. If you lose, it’s yours to pay). Who and their ‘yankiest’ outfits, these ‘fashion-sista’ would have imagined that these vivid memories would transgenders were the most notorious, infamous surface in the hilarious setting and comedy theme for ‘Pondan Clan’ of Tembeling Road. They gave the my Wayang Peranakan (theatre) production, ‘Bibiks bargirls and hookers working in the sleazy bars a run Behind Bars’, in 2002! for their money! As the saying went: “Pua kiri! Pua kanan! Belok kiri, My favourite late supper vendor was the kaichok nampak jantan!  Belok kanan, jumpa pondan!” (“Turn (chicken porridge) uncle and his pretty daughter, who left, see sex-starved men! Turn right, meet a trannie!) would appear around 10 pm. They would park their  Joo Chiat was abuzz with delicious street food cart in front of the sleazy bar at the corner and go from push cart hawkers. The Indian mee goreng from door to door to take orders. Apparently they also seller would hit his giant wok loudly with his ladle, took cubicle to cubicle orders from the bars. Not to “Keng! Keng! Keng!”, to notify of his arrival. I can miss, my grandma’s gambling kakis (partners) as well. still hear my grand-aunt bibik Touk-Yu (dark black I can still savour in my mind the aroma of chicken sauce, a nickname), in the middle of her cherki game, porridge with ‘spare parts’, gizzards and all. lamenting loudly, “Si-jual mee goreng tu, selalu ketok kuali! Lari jerki! Suay sair!” (“That mee goreng seller, Come sunrise, our daily routines began. A van he’s always knocking his wok! All the luck will run would drive up and when the rear door opened, hey away! How unfortunate!”). presto! a mini-mart appeared. It saved residents from   a trip to the Joo Chiat wet market. My fondest memory was drinking chilled fresh milk for breakfast from the BIBIK BUROK bright yellow pyramid-shaped Magnolia tetra-pack. Between grandma’s home cooked makan laok Just snip off the top and push in a straw. Across the meja for lunch and dinner was tea time. We knew road, delivery boys from the provision shop Guan Hoe just when to make our way home and wait in Soon (before it became a Peranakan restaurant) were anticipation for the arrival of Bibik Burok (Ugly), all ready with their little 555 notebook to take orders the most authentic kueh (dessert) vendor. Dressed of rice, sugar, canned food and Tongkat Ah Pek (Old in her baju panjang and armed with two giant bakol Man’s Walking Stick) samsu for grandma. It was her siah (lacquered baskets), she elixir of life and kept her going strong till she was 94 was truly the Mary Poppins of years old. kueh embok embok. With the The Chinese temple at basic ingredients of rice flour, Tembeling Road where My best time was a pilgrimage to Joo Chiat wet tapioca, glutinous rice, coconut, many Peranakans in the market with grandma. The journey to the market at gula melaka (brown coconut neighbourhood used to the junction of Joo Chiat Road and Changi Road sugar), bunga telang (organic converge to worship the was one amazing, exciting adventure! blue pea flower colouring), deities. It was where I became more aware of Chinese culture. she could magically churn 9 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

feature Along the way we would have passed by the open air would give grandma a coin-shaped dog-tag to identify Lily Cinema. I remember clutching a movie flyer with the chicken we picked. Grandma was quite an expert, the ‘Akan Datang’ (Coming) banner in sepia print. weaving through the market stalls, in her char-kiak Then with a hop and a skip, I would walk past the clogs, in a well choreographed journey to buy pork, brilliantly hued flowers neatly lined along the five- fish, vegetables, herbs, spices and rempahs! foot-way, below the spiral staircases of shop houses. It was at one of these stairs that my pretty, younger sister  Then it was time to flag down a becha (trishaw) Swee Lian was given up for adoption at the tender age to balek rumah (return home). Grandma would pass of two. Back then, Mum had made us promise never me forty cents to pay the rider. The ride home was to bring up this subject. But she has mellowed since, going back in reverse, where I could wave goodbye wondering how her third child is today. But that is lain to the vendors and people we saw earlier. I love cherita (another story for a different time). my childhood days! Maybe it is time for another INTO THE SPIRIT WORLD Peranakan play about “Travels with My Mama”.  Today, this stretch of Joo Chiat Road is so ‘dead’ One of the highlights of my budak days was visiting in the day time. Back then, it was packed with mak the Gunong Sayang Association at Ceylon Road. My minahs (Malay aunties), bibiks, amahs (servants) in granduncle,Tay Ang Liang was a regular here. His black-and-white samfoos and street vendors plying kaki botol kawan (drinking buddies) would spend local delicacies - an eclectic mix of Chinese, Malay, the weekend to tohgoh (booze), sing dondang sayang Indian and Peranakan makan choices! I can still smell (traditional songs) and joget (local Malay social dance). the aroma of piping hot, steamed kueh tutu; freshly That was my early exposure to our Peranakan culture roasted chestnuts and sugary sweet minchiang kueh; in music, song and dance! my favourite chee cheong fun with sesame seeds, chioh- cheng (soya sauce) and chilli chuka (chilli with vinegar); I recently took a stroll down memory lane, through the aroma of the cheena bak chang versus the nyonya the very back lanes and side streets of Joo Chiat kueh chang; bright orange sugar (gula pasir) and freshly that I grew up in. I was completely disoriented and grated kelapa over the putu mayam; ….just endless! deeply disappointed. Hardly anything from my past had remained. Where we used to live is now a Design At the wet market, chickens were openly Centre. Dunia sua tak sama! (the world is no longer slaughtered and de-feathered. The chicken seller the same).  Richard Tan, now 58, remains rooted in the Peranakan culture as a founder-director of The Main Wayang Company.  10 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

Baba Dandy The sarong kebaya has been grabbing all the attention, and it is easy to forget that the Babas were also lavish style-setters. Peter Lee unearths some old images of dapper Peranakan men,taken in the 1860s, at the dawn of photography in Asia. Not often could one see in the Dutch East Indies, a Chinese man in a jifu or informal dragon robe, of the kind worn by civil officials of the Chinese court. The subject of this 1860s photograph by J.B. Jasper of Semarang is an unknown, but obviously influential local Baba showing off an official robe befitting his rank, which in most likelihood was purchased. It was not uncommon for wealthy merchants in China (especially the south) or the diaspora to pose for a photograph in a jifu without the requisite surcoat or bufu ( ) and rank badge (buzi, ), and a bead necklace (chaozhu, ). His winter court hat (chaoguan, ) with its feather decoration (lingyu, ) has a rather tall finial, fashionable in the late Qing dynasty. In the Indies, wealthy merchants often flouted sumptuary regulations and had theirs made of gold, and sometimes even set with diamonds, which would have been reserved only for the imperial family.The photograph could easily be mistaken for one taken in China, but hints of the Indies can be seen in the subject’s rather European- style ring worn on the index finger of his left hand, and the crumpled cotton handkerchief in his right hand. All photographs from the collection of Mr and Mrs Lee Kip Lee. 11 | ISSUE 43 • 2014

feature By at least the second half of August Sachtler, and the robe, , bib) and nothing else! The o-to the nineteenth century the usually made of silk damask, tends was often made of patchwork. chang pao ( ), known to have a simple round collar This style has an ancient history to the Babas by the Hokkien rather than the mandarin collar, — even Dutch boys in eighteenth term tng sah ( , long gown), which is a standard feature of the century Batavia dressed in this was worn as an expression of twentieth-century version. Perhaps manner, and it is a word that has leisurely and understated elegance. what is even more engaging in crept into the Malay, Indonesian However it is uncertain if this this image, though, is the fretful and Javanese language.The was a common habit, as there expression of the girl in the baju combination of the o-to with a are no known photographs of a panjang, who, hand resting on pair of Victorian button-up ankle Baba snapped outdoors dressed her head, has clearly been forced strap leather shoes is a perfect in this manner.This form of to keep still.The dazed-looking expression of the changing times. dressing is only known through child is wearing standard attire The rattan furniture and parasol formal painted and photographed for boys of all communities in the also announce the modernity of portraits, as in this example by nineteenth century: an o-to ( 1860s Singapore. 12 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

Nineteenth-century Babas loved to layer their tops.This gentleman, photographed by August Sachtler in the 1860s wears three: a dark coloured cotton jacket, a white or light-coloured version under that, and peeking from under the white jacket is a checked top of some sort. It was the fashion at that time to fasten only the topmost button of the outermost jacket, and push aside the opening of the garment to show off the second jacket.Voluminous trousers complete the look. His hair at the back of his head seems intentionally puffed-up for effect, and his tochang (also spelt towchang) or queue is visible down the back of his neck.The real fashion statement, however, is the hat on the table. King Edward VII is credited for starting the fashion for Homburgs, and Katz Brothers only began advertising them for sale in the 1890s.This Baba was clearly ahead of his time! 13 | ISSUE 43 • 2014

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Perhaps the earliest look of the period, and style, with a little bonnet and photograph of Babas modern tropical adaptations lacy frock.The furniture in the interior of of Chinese style. Clearly it and porcelain are also a house, this image was was acceptable to leave the interesting mixes of Chinese taken by August Sachtler in top button of their jackets and colonial European. Malacca in the 1860s.Three undone. European fashions Hanging behind the colonial men, probably brothers, and can be seen not only in the glass lamp at the centre is an older relative, sit at the older gentleman’s straw a fascinating Palembang- front of the ancestral hall boater, but also in the shoes style brass chandelier. Black of their house, dressed in of the man seated on the retrievers like the one lying what is termed today, baju extreme right, who wears a at the corner were probably lokchuan. Lokchuan was Chinese style skull cap, and introduced by British strictly speaking a term for curiously, holds several stalks military officers in the mid- a kind of silk, while these of (perhaps dried) flowers. nineteenth century. gentlemen are dressed in The two older children dark-coloured, light cotton are dressed in miniature trousers, and white or cream versions of adult fashions, starched cotton or linen but the infant is dressed jackets — the smart-casual in quintessential Victorian 15 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

feature Ayoung boy has his tochang in the mainland, which was not enforced ( ) or queue groomed by a in the Straits Settlements. Author and barber, photographed by August lawyer Baba Song Ong Siang cut his in Sachtler in Singapore in the 1860s. From 1898, while he was a student in London, 1644 until 1911 all Chinese males, with while Baba philanthropist and tycoon the exception of Buddhist and Daoist Tan Jiak Kim was very much against it. priests, were required to sport a queue, a In 1908 several Baba men in Malacca Manchu custom. It would seem that there held a tochang-cutting party in a rubber would have been resistance among the estate. In 1911 the revolution in China Chinese of southeast Asia to adopt this in ended this regulation, although in 1950 the mid-seventeenth century, but certainly there was still an old man in Singapore from the eighteenth to the nineteenth who refused to cut his pigtail. century this was essential Baba fashion and an intrinsic part of Baba male identity. Men were culturally lost without their tochang, until the late nineteenth century when several young modern Babas began cutting theirs, unafraid of the imperial edicts and the death penalty 16 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

In his younger days Cheang Hong feature Lim (1841-1893), the prominent Baba businessman and benefactor, In this photograph taken by an got into a lot of trouble with the colonial unknown photographer after 1877 government for trying to corner the — when the first Chinese consulate in opium market in Singapore by ruining Singapore was established, and titles his rivals. He and his father had became available for a price — Baba acquired the opium franchise from the Hong Lim is dressed as a mandarin government, and one can only imagine of the fourth rank, which suggests he how such a business was run in those attained his higher rank some time days. He cleaned up his act rather later. He is wearing an almost complete quickly and until his untimely death costume for a Chinese imperial official: was generous to friends and family and summer conical court hat (chaoguan, became a visionary benefactor towards several social and charitable causes, ), flared shoulder collar (pi ling, including donations towards the ), surcoat with rank badge (bufu, construction and repair of the places of worship for different ), informal dragon robe (jifu, religions. Like many of his ).The badge (buzi, ) contemporaries, he acquired Chinese imperial titles for displaying his rank has a symbol himself and his ancestors. of a wild goose. He is not By the time of his death wearing his court necklace he had attained the rank (chaozhu, ), and in of Ronglu Daifu ( his left hand is a typical Southeast Asian , Grandmaster for accessory – a crumpled Glorious Happiness, handkerchief. In this the second civil rank). case it is probably a Scottish machine- printed copy of an Indian bandhani (tie-dye) cloth. 17 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

feature regal moments the peranakans Courtesy of the British Monarchy and Majesty magazine are received in london Singapore’s Baba President Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam and his Above: Prince Philip, Nyonya wife, Nyonya Mary Tan were hosted by Queen Elizabeth and Mary Tan, Queen Elizabeth II The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, while in London on and Baba President Tony Tan a state visit in October. Dr Tan highlighted the historical links Keng Yam. between Singapore and the UK as a strong foundation for the Next page, left:The state friendship and bilateral cooperation both nations share today. banquet given in honour of The Queen remarked that she cherished the continued deepening President and Mrs Tony Tan. of ties between the United Kingdom and Singapore. Next page, right: President and Mrs Tony Tan are welcomed by Britain’s premier science institution, the Royal Society, conferred Queen Elizabeth and Prince the King Charles II medal on Dr Tan for his role in furthering Philip. scientific research, while the Queen, in her turn, wore the Order Next page, bottom right: of Temasek sash and star which she received during her 1972 visit President Tony Tan and Queen to Singapore at the state banquet that evening. Elizabeth II at the state banquet. 18 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

Another significant member Courtesy of Ivan Heng of our community, Baba Ivan Heng, was also in attendance at the banquet, along with Tony Trickett. Check out the photo of them in evening dress, and their invitation card. They’ve never looked more dashing! Ivan Heng and Tony Trickett in top hat and tails at Buckingham Palace. 19 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

feature Above: A regal moment with Queen the kebaya Elizabeth II at goes to Buckingham Palace on 10 October 2014. buckingham Left: High palace Commissioner Foo Chi Hsia feeds a Earlier in October, the new High horse enroute to meet Commissioner for Singapore, the Queen. Her Excellency Foo Chi Hsia, did Peranakan culture proud when Courtesy of the British Monarchy. she presented her credentials to Queen Elizabeth II dressed elegantly in a sarong kebaya complete with manek heels. This photograph issued by the Palace made it to the Royals page of an online fashion/humour magazine, registering some 10,000 hits! (http://www.gofugyourself.com/royals-round- up-october-10th-2014-10-2014/credentials- presented-to-queen-elizabeth-ii-at-buckingham- palace-4). The sarong kebaya was specially designed by our own Main Committee member, Baba Raymond Wong. 20 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

and closer to home... inspecting the troops This contrasting shot of the kebaya amidst a parade of fatigues, although taken two years ago, recently went its rounds on facebook to favourable reviews. The captivating moment took place on 21 September, 2012, when Mrs Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, presented a picture of femininity in her sarong kebaya as she inspected a Combined Arms Specialist Cadet Graduation Parade at Pasir Laba Camp. 21 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

chakap chakap growing up BAttreMudprejaaCHtoumllyacloaaiEsrlhantarnaaoi.iLbaegcsotnBinrToacans,ortauszABsiT-uyiorhfna-arrtrnacnuninyeompeandremitrmnnfwaowtmigyafhtficwoairotiaehihnezuysrdtieetinhhgajatcluEeaieersiknsnraskntbtosncrfegnaouteedaalrcilrsitmmceaskchCeaahtloioosltaihvytssfnyaeha!eaotdskeHhruaritiine’pissstcole. CavarogaeFhmrrlPeiahiefaioesomctseiGtsoruGairlioaoiapvlsttascnduuantiavoncteaolsniivongbekvlfawyowemeia.toinresnratiuimwotgntpttFhrGthueoaeeegaiencsrsseathsonaiatdtimaorismoyvrtvseutaehnaermoorltgpeaorhaithuoapongaezisnrlmatsias2tniCsnasyto0eboiycowscha0.oocaniaoG9aiauvtknatiretteaotndwikhorivyenoeihicnnavnsrnuene.gMofWrlhdoratlteaeyanurheibstdrneahteeshig.neaHgne The Peranakan Magazine (TPM): I think many of us first felt that we were different when we interacted with our peers at school. Do you have any memories to share? Bryan: I knew I was different from a very young age. My maternal grandmother who still lives in Malacca was a huge influence – she speaks patois and in true matriarchal style, “imposed” her presence everywhere she went. I’ve lived in Katong for over 20 years, and studied at Maris Stella Primary School, which has Catholic roots. So I’ve had the benefit of some elements of “Peranakan-ness”, but also tempered with the more “Chinese” roots from my father, who is Hainanese. Raymond: I first studied at Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School and the medium of instruction was English, but then transferred to The young babas. From left: Raymond, Bryan, Emeric (for TPM), Zan and Gavin. 22 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

baba Younger Babas reflect on their Peranakan identity in contemporary Singapore RRoADaaulhocysryiccimvikriumsmmcoeenialosocupstleftntstenonaoomooardtsramtrpnesinbbtanimiroideseeoersegfwcrtmepntn,soRiaWdoa.nohbMnmturHgkoredsamaeooewterPaibriFynranedbeamaeihvrnaeoyngCnaeauraguaKnrojyodes,tnow.aimrihamrrcekRnneetaemnaoadssedCncaypidpetinmhcecnt.rrfdecouooHoeetolrpinfate.sumtuedhHilajlrnlieoleysiegmsidnfobsreura.s tPohCTeoiuBmsarouwttafmaPhpmoiHobZsnhnZeerpstaaaimiarmshusiekkaannhleeiarafoinateatanrt’elntstavc.sisemeicvT-ke.hvDrieeisZHnaiehpeyliosanyn,sienmasylfOpacanosrerewcnietmueraf’himodnoeshnsrlioaytdrDrsebabauaDdkreaawrumn-nieSerupngrc.geeaealoeaghhCrurwytanrneeeehk.aflhtreadnaeM.ipoesrtnlgHspiacamhac,e,ktfiiiakosisannotehotndisdin. so focussed on education, productivity and being “modern” Kong Hwa (founded by Tan Lark They’ll say, “This is the food I ate at that they didn’t pick up many skills Sye), which is a Hokkien Huay home growing up…” from their parents, and now the Kuan-managed school where the younger generation is becoming emphasis on Mandarin was strong. Gavin: But do they complain that aware of this generation gap that Language problems aside, I was we have to cross in order to access able to relate well as the value it’s still different from their mom’s our roots. system in a Peranakan family and cooking? those of Chinese culture align quite Raymond: We can take a two- well. All my brothers also entered Zan: Oh, always! Kong Hua, so we have a great Gavin: That’s the thing about pronged approach. First, at home, appreciation of the more Chinese families have to start consciously elements in Peranakan culture. Peranakan food – every family’s transmitting culture to their Nonetheless, we often failed at recipes are different. children, and then at school, Mandarin! programmes can be implemented Zan: Actually, this is a problem to make students more culturally Gavin: Yes, all of us relied on aware. that’s facing our culture. None of tuition! (Nods all round.) the family recipes were written TPM: Peranakan culture is in down. TPM: Let’s turn to another area fact a good entry-point since it Bryan: My family totally lost contains elements of Singapore’s that we all love – food! Zan, maybe different cultures. In fact, another you can tell us how you started the skill of cooking for a bit. My one of our new Main Committee since this is your passion… grandmother didn’t “impose” any members is Kevin Aeria, and he recipes upon my mother; instead, is both Peranakan and Eurasian Zan: I like to go marketing and she encouraged my mom to study and will be our coordinator for any and called her a bookworm. So events that involve both TPAS and then experiment in the kitchen. my mom didn’t bother learning the Eurasian Association, of which I’ve had about five years’ worth to cook. When our maid left, my he is also a member. of experimenting…fine-tuning all mom started cooking some Chinese the Peranakan recipes for myself, dishes that my dad preferred – Gavin: It wasn’t a conscious before I started O’nya Sayang. At simpler to prepare than Peranakan the restaurant, it is also heartening dishes, I’m sure! thing back in the old days – all the to see more young people nowadays ladies, irrespective of race, would who proclaim their Peranakan Gavin: I think many of our don kebayas without thinking, identity, and they in turn bring their “This is or isn’t my culture…” friends along for a hearty meal. families face the same problem. Our parents’ generation were TPM: So it is our responsibility now to document the culture – one way is to write down what we can, such as recipes. Raymond: We can also take a leaf from other countries. Besides museums, culture can actually be a profitable resource. The Koreans, for example, have interpreted the silhouette of a hanbok into a tight bandeau that flares out with a bubble skirt! It is new, but recognisably Korean in terms of shape. Why can’t younger Peranakans do the same with our rich material culture? Gavin: Definitely. It is our job to evolve and forge a way forward. 23 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

chakap chakap a peranakan new year euchari Celebrating Peranakan Mass at the Church of the Holy Family in Katong Reverend Fr Damian De Wind felt from a very young age that God had a purpose for him. He wrote in the Roman Catholic publication of the Serra Club of Singapore, ‘Called & Chosen’: “… when I was in secondary school (St Patrick’s)...I knew deep down in my heart God had a mission plan for me.” Father Damian was raised by prayerful and devout Catholic parents. His maternal grandmother was a nyonya and grandfather was from England. As a young boy born and raised in the Telok Kurau neighbourhood, he learnt to speak patois from his mother, aunties and uncles. He also learnt to cook dishes like buah keluak, kueh paiti and other Peranakan food. Father Damian does not have time nowadays to cook his favourite Peranakan dishes. He is one of three priests in the Church of The Holy Family at Chapel Road, off East Coast Road, ministering to a parish of over 8,500 parishioners. Baba Colin Chee and Nyonya Linda Chee met up with Father Damian (FD) recently to talk about the Peranakan Mass, in an interview with the Peranakan Magazine (TPM). TPM: Fr Damian, how many been a decline in the number decline in numbers. In fact, it Roman Catholic churches of worshippers? may be growing along with the in Singapore celebrate FD: We start the Peranakan Mass rest of the church. Holy Family’s Peranakan Mass? at 11 pm on New Year’s Eve so catechism classes alone has about FD: Holy Family is today the that by midnight we all get to sing 850 children and youth. There is only Roman Catholic church Auld Lang Syne and conclude with also catechism classes taught by in Singapore which conducts the blessing and distribution of Baba Andrew Goh in bahasa, Baba the Mass Sambot Kepala Taon oranges. We have not changed Malay and dialects to the elderly. Baru (Peranakan Mass), always this format, which is also closely on the Eve of the Lunar New tied in to our Liturgy. Every TPM: How is the Mass Year. This tradition was started year, we have consistently had celebrated? here about 32 years ago by the between 500 to 600 people. Always FD: We have a Peranakan group late Father Alfred Chan, a Baba, a mix of Peranakans and even called the Kompolan Peranakan who was then the parish priest Eurasians. Holy Family is made up Gereja Holy Family that organises at Holy Family. Before Father of predominantly Eurasians and the Mass. The group provides a Chan was called to the Lord in Peranakans. They understand or choir, the organist, the choir master June 2013, Blessed Sacrament even speak bahasa and Baba Malay. and plans the celebration right Church at Commonwealth Drive So, there has been no observed down to setting up the traditional in Queenstown also celebrated Peranakan Mass only at Easter. After he passed on, it stopped. At Holy Family, however, by default, I took over the Chinese New Year Eve Mass from Fr Chan. I was assisting him at the time as I could speak Baba Malay. Now I hope to get another Peranakan priest to celebrate the Mass with me. There are a few Peranakan priests – Fr Ignatius Yeo, Fr Adrian Yeo, Fr Valerian Cheong and Fr Jacob Ong, to name a few. There is also Fr Bernard Wee. But he is now studying in Rome. TPM: How many people in total attend this very special New Year Eve’s Peranakan Mass every year? Has there 24 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

stic celebration Peranakan prayer altar. This altar follow the same Liturgy except all use joss sticks and candles in has two tall red candles supported the language and the liturgical their premises. In Singapore it is on two Chinese brass candle environment, for example, the more difficult because we are a stands, a chanap (used in important traditional prayer altar. very multi-racial congregation. ceremonies such as weddings and TPM: Do you see a future for Chinese New Year prayers) as the TPM: Are the Peranakan Holy Family’s Peranakan Mass? centre piece, fruits like the banana congregation more pantang FD : Yes, as long as we see parents which symbolizes abundance and than the others that the or grandparents bringing their pomelos which, pronounced in church has to be more children or grandchildren to the Chinese sounds like “again”. At the sensitive to? Mass. Many of them proudly wear end of the mass, we sing popular FD: No lah. But other non- their sarong kebayas and batik songs which have been revised Peranakans seem more pantang. shirts. I do feel therefore that the to give a flavour of the occasion. Like not having the funeral on Mass will carry on and it won’t For example, Rasa Sayang Eh! was the even days, for example, the be so jelak(surfeit) because we adapted to become Rasa Sayang 4th day and not having weddings do not have it every week. And Selamat Taon Baru, and many more. during the 7th or ghost month. with Baba Peter Wee’s (who is Catholics, Peranakans or Chinese, President of The Peranakan TPM: What would be the we can also burn joss sticks Association Singapore) beautiful typical age and gender profiles when showing respect to their Peranakan treasures used for of Holy Family’s congregation? ancestors. We make a distinction Mass as part of our worship to FD: There is a balanced age and between showing respect versus our Lord, it lends the Peranakan gender profile. Culturally, this worshipping. Some of our Mass a more authentic and real has not changed much from the Catholic churches in Hong Kong, Peranakan atmosphere. predominantly Eurasian and Taiwan, South Korea and Vietnam Peranakan parishioners to ethnic 25 | ISSUE 4 • 2014 Chinese and Indians and many others. I have served for about three years and our daily morning 6.15 am congregation has always been about 90 to 100 people. Evenings are more crowded. While we have the once-a-year Peranakan Mass on Chinese New Year’s Eve, we have weekly Masses in other languages like Indonesian, Tagalog, Korean, French and German, to name a few in our other churches. TPM: Why have a Peranakan Mass at all? FD: The Catholic Church has always been inclusive. Embracing the local culture is part of our inculturalisation process. We learn the customs of the local people and try to Christianise them. The language of worship may be different but always, always, the Liturgy is the same. TPM: How different is the Peranakan patois Mass from the normal English language Mass? FD: No difference really. They both

dalam dapor Photographs by Colin Chee. Food styling by Linda Chee. all in the family Baba Zan Ho is a young Peranakan cook with a mission 26 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

Istarted cooking because my grandmother and mother opened Dulukala restaurant at Beauty World Centre in 1999, when I was 17 years old. I was helping around the restaurant and became very interested in learning more. The ingredients, methods, taste and all the skills required to get a good dish on the table fascinated me. Learning the basics of good cooking is very important. I was taught everything I needed to know in great detail and it has allowed me to create my own variations of Peranakan-inspired dishes. I think Peranakan food and cooking are amazing because we have the influence of so many different cultures. Peranakan cooking bundles a wide range of ingredients and techniques into one cuisine. The art is very tough to learn, but the returns make it all worthwhile. I freely admit I still have a long, long way to go before getting anywhere near as good as my mother and grandmother! I am still persevering. Since taking over the restaurant business in 2008, after graduating from university, I have been fully committed to running our restaurants. While Dulukala serves traditional cuisine, O’nya Sayang at Tampines Mall has more fusion Peranakan fare. We are opening another O’nya Sayang at Paya Lebar Square in November. Work is seven days a week, 12 hours a day! There is Zan Ho, 31, likes to create dishes little time for anything else. My mornings are spent in the office on business with a Peranakan twist. administration while evenings require all hands on deck to man the outlets. I make it a point to be very involved in the kitchen. My priority is to maintain food quality and also invest some time in culinary experimentation. I am inspired by many different kinds of food including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Burmese and Thai. I try to listen and understand the palates of the younger generation. Knowing what they like means I can create dishes with a Peranakan twist to match. It will always be my goal to spread Peranakan culture to the young. The easiest way to do that is to first attract them through food. In this mission, we have to succeed or the culture will fade away. Here are some contemporary Peranakan-inspired recipes that I hope readers would enjoy trying out at home. Except for Chendol ice cream, none of the others are in our menus! Keluak Fried Rice 35g belachan   1 tbsp keluak paste (see below) 10g sugar Asam Pedas (Sour and 1 tbsp sambal belachan (see below) 1 chilli padi (bird’s eye chilli) Spicy) with Crab Tang 3 tbsp oil Hoon (Vermicelli) 1 egg, beaten Method 300g rempah (see below) 1 handful fresh prawns Soak the buah keluak for at 6 tbsp cooking oil 1 tsp minced garlic 20g asam (tamarind) paste, mixed 2 cupfuls cooked rice least 3 days to soften the flesh 1 chicken breast, boiled and inside. Break open the keluak with 1 litre of water nut and scoop out the flesh. 5 pieces asam skin shredded Grind the flesh with the sugar 2 -3 lemo perot (leprous lime) ½ handful cubed onions and prawns. 1 red and 1 green chilli, sliced leaves, sliced finely ½ tsp salt Grind the sambal belachan 1 tbsp sliced bunga kantan (torch 1 tbsp soya sauce ingredients into a paste. Spring onions and parsley, for ginger flower) Mix the keluak paste with the 5 tbsp sugar garnish sambal belachan and set aside. 1 tbsp salt   Heat the oil in a wok and stir fry 6 ladies fingers, sliced broadly Keluak paste the egg quickly. Add the prawns, 1 brinjal, sliced into segments 1 kg buah keluak garlic, rice, shredded chicken 1 Sri Lankan crab, steamed for 50g sugar and keluak paste and mix well. 50g fresh prawns Stir in the onions and sliced 7-8 minutes chillies. Add the salt and soya 1 handful tang hoon (vermicelli) Sambal belachan sauce. Garnish with chopped 80g sun-dried fresh red chillies spring onions and Chinese soaked till soft in cold water parsley and serve. Rempah (ground spice paste) 1 kg shallots 100g garlic 27 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

dalam dapor Chendol Ice cream and top off with one Cream tbsp of chendol and kidney 75g belachan Gula Melaka (palm sugar) beans. Drizzle with one 500g lengkuas (blue ginger) tbsp of gula Melaka. Serve 75g serai (lemon grass) syrup immediately. 80g buah keras (candlenut) Rich coconut ice cream 45g ginger Chendol (green rice flour Bandung Ice 150g dried chilli powder Cream Soda Method jelly noodles) Rose syrup Boiled kidney beans Ice cream soda Grind the rempah ingredients, Vanilla ice cream  except for the dried chilli powder, Method finely into a paste. Heat the oil in Melt the gula Melaka Method a wok and cook the rempah over Mix one part rose syrup low heat for 1 hour. Add the chilli in a little water over a powder, mix well and continue slow fire. Leave to cool with six parts soda in a tall cooking over low heat for another completely or chill in the glass. Add ice and top off half an hour. Set aside. refrigerator. This can be with one scoop of vanilla prepared in advance. You ice cream. Add more ice To prepare the asam pedas sauce, can buy the fresh chendol cream to make it a float. remove the asam seeds from the from the wet market. Serve immediately. water. Add 100g of cooked rempah and mix well. Add the asam skin In a glass bowl, put and the lemo perot leaves. Bring the one scoop of coconut ice mixture to boil and add the bunga kantan, sugar and salt to taste. Add the ladies fingers and brinjal. Boil the mixture for about 10 minutes till fragrant. Transfer the crab from the steamer to a plate and spread the softened tang hoon over the crab. Pour the asam sauce over the crab. Serve immediately. 28 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

theatre baba sedia! (attention!) Baba Bryan Tan spends an evening with the Peranakan Siblings Anak Mak Satu is a quaint, tongue-in-cheek The chorus and the cast of Anak Mak Satu. production. It touches on the perennial issues of single-child families and their out a stronger man, both physically and mentally. Performed mainly in English, the scenes showcased a smattering of patois dialogue and particularly Singaporean struggle when the boy has to featured musical numbers performed by the enlist into National Service (NS). Peranakan Siblings Chorus. Irene Ong is resplendent The story centres on a fiery matriarch, Nya Nellie as the matriarch with her commanding demeanour (Irene Ong), her only son Jason (Ivan Choong) and and is well flanked by her younger sisters, supporting their relatives. There is much actresses Ko Besair (Eldest worry during Chinese New Aunty, played by Irene Ooi) Year, which falls just before and Ko Kechik (Youngest Aunty, Jason’s enlistment. Nellie’s played by Jasmine Koh). Apart relatives wonder if Jason from the Chorus, actor Ivan will survive the harsh army Choong also showed off his training and continue the classical training and singing family legacy. They debate chops. all manner of ways to ‘pull However, it was Bibik Lemak strings’ or come up with (Francis Hogan) who stole excuses to prevent Jason the show as a befuddled bibik from enlisting, in the process selling nasi lemak with her displaying the typical gelek buntot (sashaying) and ignorance of older folk who bimbotic one-liners, along know nothing about NS. Nya Nellie (middle), with her sisters Ko Kechik (left) with Yati (Reggie), Nya Nellie’s Desperate to ensure the and Ko Besair. gregarious maid, who took every future of the eldest sister’s family, the younger opportunity to punctuate dialogues with satirical relatives of Nya Nellie seek out a quack fortune teller, jibes. Chris Lim, who plays Susan, Jason’s rather curiously named International (Sharon Frese) and large and immature younger cousin, also added much her partner-in-crime Francis (Joe Moereira) to divine comedic punch to the cast. Jason’s fate in the army and if he would be able to Anak Mak Satu is a convivial show which is sure to survive it. The show culminates in the scene where pique the interest of non-Peranakan viewers as well Jason is visited by his grandmother’s ghost, who as remind the current generation of Peranakans of assures him that she is confident of his ability to come their rich and colourful heritage. 29 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

theatre of heartbreak and healing Baba Bryan Tan experiences an evening of emotions at Biji Mata Mak It is a real treat to have granny over from Malacca. So I decided to spend quality time with her. And what better way to foster bonding than to attend a Peranakan play, just bibik and her chuchu? Mama has a rather awkward tendency of falling asleep in odd places, and I desperately hoped she would not start snoring The 25-year-old for her son in Kuala Lumpur on family drama, written the pretext of finding a job.The by Baba Henry Tan, action reaches a climax when Bong makes a return to the Neo is hired as a cook and maid stage in an adaptation in the house of her son’s in-laws, by Baba Frederick Soh (standing, third from left).The play was who are immensely wealthy. Freddy directed by Tony Quek eventually discovers her presence (fourth from left). and throws a massive fit, casting her Left:The drama out of the house. follows the plight of the beleaguered Bibik Distraught and overwhelmed, Bong Neo (in picture, loudly in the middle of a scene in Biji Mata Mak, left), played with much Bong Neo returns to Singapore to produced by the Gunong Sayang Association. It was pathos by Kelvin Tan. live with her former help, Ah Foon. written by Baba Henry Tan 25 years ago and adapted by Bong Neo’s sisters-in-law (Cynthia Baba Frederick Soh for this latest GSA play. Lee, Audrey Tan and Christina Wee) discover her plight, and chastise Freddy when he comes to visit for Chinese I spent much of the time craning my neck trying to New Year.They manage to guilt him into reconciling with read the subtitles while the scenes played out. Granny his long-suffering stepmother, who by then has become however, enjoyed the show immensely while watching blind from grief, resulting in a tearful union for the the cast deliver their lines in fluent patois. entire family. With much pathos, Biji Mata Mak captures the Centered on Bibik Bong Neo (Kelvin Tan), the play idiosyncrasies and foibles of a Peranakan household explores the struggles of a beleaguered Peranakan - right down to the lingo and mannerisms, giving the stepmother and her ingrate son, set in post-war play an intimate and authentic feel.The sets accurately Singapore. Bibik Bong Neo’s beloved stepson Freddy depicted the post-war period, sliding in and out is getting married, and she secretively gets her ditzy seamlessly between scenes. household helper, Ah Foon (Lee Yong Meng), to go to the Kelvin shines in his role as matriarch Bibik Bong pawnshop to exchange her jewelry for money in order Neo, alongside cast members Yong Meng as Ah Foon to fund the wedding.The pawning of jewelry then was and Matthew Chen as Ah Mui, who provided superb frowned upon as ‘losing face’, especially by wealthier comedic relief. Nya Besair, Nya Bong Soo and Nya relatives, and was only done as a last resort. Tengah (Cynthia, Audrey and Christina) executed the roles of assertive and kaypoh matriarchs perfectly, and However, Freddy (Eugene Tay) proceeds with his Agnes (Adriana Tanubrata) was a delightful breath of wedding without Bong Neo’s involvement and abruptly fresh air with her vibrant acting chops. moves from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur with his wife Exiting the Drama Centre, I asked Mama if she Swee Neo (Ameline Goh), angered that his mother enjoyed the play, relieved she had stayed awake. She was unable to cough up the sum of $10,000 which he bobbed her head slightly, which I took to be a yes, requested. before whispering in my ear, “You are Mama’s biji mata, know or not?” Bong Neo finds herself in a desperate situation: Abandoned, she sells the house and departs to search 30 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

books perathnearkeanwawsoaman who lived in a shoe Baba Colin Chee takes delight in this book of rhymes by Gwen Lee This is a colourful book of 14 well- illustrated and localised nursery rhymes. They may all sound strangely familiar to you. But that is because author Gwen Lee has cleverly adapted into Singapore’s cultural vernacular, traditional English rhymes that I learnt to recite as a primary school boy when children in Singapore sang God Save the Queen at assembly! The most obviously Peranakan adaptation is her interpretation of the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe…. “ She made so many nyonya kueh, She didn’t know what to do…” Amusing rhymes indeed, with stunning and interestingly detailed illustrations by Cheryl Kook, to keep your kids, and even you, glued to the pages from cover to cover. Published by Epigram. Available at good bookstores. 31 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

events ikebana goes peranakan Baba Emeric Lau gets some floral flair The black-and-white Different schools teach different styles of Ikebana. bungalow that houses the In Singapore, the members and teachers are largely Japan Creative Centre was from the Sogetsu, Ohara, Ikenobo, Ryusei-Ha and recently transformed into a small Ichiyo schools. Peranakan gallery complete with antique lacquer-ware, pottery, costumes, beautiful sarongs, beaded shoes, belts, batik and furniture. These items created a special ambience for the 5-day Ikebana exhibition organised by Japan Creative Centre (a wing of the Embassy of Japan) in collaboration with Ikebana International Singapore Chapter 135 (IISC135). Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arranging and IISC135 is one of over 200 chapters of Ikebana International, Tokyo that promotes the art of Ikebana through its motto “friendship through flowers”. 32 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

events a trip through time Baba Kevin Aeria finds his Peranakan and Eurasian roots in Malacca Some 40 Peranakans and Eurasians came the word kebaya originated from cabaya, a Portuguese together for the first time to embark garment for women. More than a century ago, they on a journey to find our common roots in were mostly deep blue and decorated with lace and embroidery. The Peranakans adapted and made their Malacca from 15 to 17 August, 2014, organized by our kebayas very colourful, which has become iconic of respective associations. the culture. Visiting the Portuguese Settlement on the second The dishes at lunch at the settlement revealed day was exciting. The Malacca Portuguese Eurasian more commonalities. These included the chicken Association (MPEA) President, Michael Singho, dish the Eurasians call curry debal (devil); the braised brought us around the settlement to give an insight pork delicacy called sebak; sambal binagri, which is into the lifestyle of the residents there. He explained fried cincaru fish, another Peranakan favourite; and the phases the houses went through from time the kangkong lemak with sweet potatoes. Portuguese arrived in the 15th century to the present day. From wood to brick, living standards improved We were fortunate to have good weather while through time. walking through the village, meeting and greeting the friendly locals living there. Our group had a During the trip, we realised the Eurasians and the very comfortable stay at the new King’s Green Hotel Peranakans share many similar traits. For example, where we attended the Melodians’ Charity Outreach Dinner & Dance. This joint trip organized by the Eurasian Association and The Peranakan Association Singapore is only the first. We plan for more joint events in the future. The group in Malacca. Front row:To the right of TPAS President Peter Wee is the Malacca Portuguese Eurasian Association (MPEA) President, Michael Singho. who is a chetti melaka? BAbA David Bok reports on the first Chetti Melaka Symposium The Association of Chetti Melaka Kim representing the Chinese Peranakans, Farish (Peranakan Indian) Singapore held its Noor of the Jawi Peranakans, VP Nair from GOPIO first symposium at the Ngee Ann Auditorium, (Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin), and K Narayanasamy from Malaysia, author of the first Asia Civilizations Museum on Saturday 4 October. sociological study of the community done in 1967. The symposum’s theme “The Lost Tribe of Chetti Gerald Pillay, the keynote presenter, proposed that a person is a Chetti Melaka because he is born or Melaka - Who Are We?” was introduced with a short adopted into the Chetti Melaka community. He also Chetti Melaka history by Ryna Mahindapala, a young added that while all Chetti Melaka are Peranakan teacher. It was followed by a discussion on challenges Indians, not all Peranakan Indians are Chetti Melaka. faced by other diaspora communities, led by Lee Su The core features of the community are its Tamil ancestry, mixed Indian-Malay-Chinese ancestry, and its origin in Malacca. Three The event other variable features are its social attracted a full customs, Hindu religion and Malay crowd of local mother tongue. culture lovers There are about 50 Chetti Melaka including officials from the National families in Malacca, another 50 in Heritage Board the rest of West Malaysia, mainly in as well as overseas Kuala Lumpur, and 50 in Singapore. participants from A few more live in Australia, the US Malacca, Kuala and Canada. Lumpur and Perth. 33 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

noticeboard peranakan associations in the region SINGAPORE ([email protected]) Contact: Cedric Tan, Hon Secretary INDONESIA The Peranakan Association Singapore 2.) Lee Yuen Thien, Hon.Secretary Email: [email protected] Association of Peranakan Tionghoa (TPAS) ([email protected]) Tel: +6012-3151451 Indonesia Raffles City PO Box 1640, Facebook: Persatuan Peranakan Cina Website: peranakan-kl.org Hero Building II Suite 902, Singapore 911755 Malaysia To contact the President, Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto 177A Contact: Peter Wee, President Persatuan Peranakan Cina Melaka Dr Lee Su Kim, please email sukim25@ Kav. 64 Jakarta 12870, Indonesia Email: [email protected] (PPCM) yahoo.com. Contact: Chairman Mr Andrew Susanto Tel: 65 6345 8544 149, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (Heeren KELANTAN Tel +6221 8317751 Website: peranakan.org.sg Street), 75200 Melaka Association of Peranakan Chinese, Fax +6221 8317731 Gunong Sayang Association (GSA) Contact: Ms Chin Siok Hoon, PJK (Hon Kelantan Email: [email protected] 50 Lorong 24A, Geylang Road, Secretary) Lot 2344 Kampong Wakaf Stan, Kubang Website: aspertina.org Singapore 398574 Email: [email protected] Kerian, AUSTRALIA Email: [email protected] Website: www.ppcm-melaka.org 16150 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia MELBOURNE Fax: 65 6441 1569 Tel: 012 6218 909 Contact: Law Awang Peranakan Association Website: gunongsayang.com Fax: 06 2837 215 Tel: 609-7652261  Mobile: 012-9815688 Australia Inc Association of Chetti Melaka To contact the President, Datuk Phua Email: [email protected] P.O. Box 1278, Hawksburn,Victoria, (Peranakan Indians) Singapore Jin Hock, please email phuajh@gmail. THAILAND Australia 3142 5001 Beach Road #08-09 com. Thai Peranakan Association Contacts: Joseph Then, Secretary, at Golden Mile Complex PENANG 61 Satul Road, Muang District, Phuket email [email protected] Singapore 199588 State Chinese (Penang) Association 83000, Thailand or Ivy Lee Gek Kim, newsletter editor, at Contact: Mr Pono Kalastree / Persatuan Peranakan Cina Pulau Contacts: Dr Kosol Taenguthai at email [email protected]. Office: 6297 1229 Pinang email: [email protected]; Website: www.peranakan.org.au. Mobile: 9678 1767 13, Perak Road Ajan Pranee Sakulpipatana at email: SYDNEY MALAYSIA President: Datuk Tan Gin Soon [email protected], mobile: +66 81 Peranakan Association Australia (PAA) MALACCA Contact: 604-2269560 693 3576; or Piyarat Kulvanich at email: NSW Inc Persatuan Peranakan Cina Malaysia Email: [email protected] [email protected] or mobile: +66 P O Box 3810, Marsfield, (PERANAKAN) KUALA LUMPUR & SELANGOR 81 719 0967. NSW 2122 Australia 243, Jalan Tengkera, Persatuan Peranakan Baba Fax: +66 76 258179 Contact: Evelyn Tan, President 75200 Melaka. Nyonya Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Tel: +66 76 258124 Website: peranakanaustralia.org Office: 06-2832202 (PPBNKLS) Website: Thaiperanakan.com Email: [email protected] Fax: 06-2832202 63 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100, Contacts: 1.) Ronald Gan, President Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia WELCOME A warm welcome to our new members! 1. Mrs Jenny 7. Mdm Leow Chin ChewWong Ying Lee 2. Ms Choy Sui-Lan 8. Mr Loo Kiang Hong 3. Ms Hee Yoke Chee 9. Mdm Elena Ng 4. Ms Jennifer Hoe 10. Mrs Yvonne Gladys 5. Mdm Angela Kek 6. Mdm Catherine Oliveiro 11. Mr Eugene LA Tan Khoo 12. Ms Joanne Zhang UPDATING MEMBERS’ DETAILS TPAS is updating all members’ mailing addresses and contact details to enable efficient delivery of the magazine and to keep members informed of coming events. Do expect a call from an association representative for the update. Better still, we would greatly appreciate if you could kindly send an email to the Secretariat at [email protected]. Please indicate your name as per membership/ gender / current address / telephone contact and email address. Thank You! 34 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

directory THE PERANAKAN GUIDE • SINGAPORE MUSEUMS arising from the terraced Peranakan Museum. See the world’s first collaboration of two houses. The national Peranakan Museum with the most contemporary artists, latter can Samantha Tio (Mintio) still be seen comprehensive and and Budi Agung in a walk finest collection of Kuswara (Kabul), and along Koon Peranakan artefacts. batik makers of the Sido Seng Road. The boutique Luhur group from the Also visit museum examines central Javanese village Peranakan the centres of of Kebon Indah. From shops such as Katong Antique House Peranakan culture 27 September to end- (208 East Coast Road) and Rumah Bebe in Malacca, Penang January 2015. (113 East Coast Road) as well as the great and Singapore, variety of Peranakan restaurants in the and traces its links to as far as Indonesia, Asian Civilisations Museum. The first neighbourhood. http://www.visitsingapore. Myanmar and Thailand. museum in the region to display a wide com/publish/stbportal/en/home/what_to_ Auspicious Designs: Batik for range of artefacts from across Asia, the see/suburban_living/katong.html. Peranakan Altars ACM not surprisingly has some important Also http://www.myjoochiat.com. A special exhibition Peranakan treasures. The Mary and Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street. featuring highlights Philbert Chin Gallery has some lavish One of the first Peranakan enclaves, now of a collection of examples of gold jewellery, sireh boxes occupied by restaurants and offices. Many batik tokwis, or and other paraphernalia, some encrusted Peranakans from Malacca moved to this altar cloths, from with diamonds, and fine batik textiles from area as soon as the East India Company a recent donation the north coast of Java, all made for the began to lease out land for sale. by Matthew and Peranakan market. Thian Hock Keng. The oldest Hokkien Alice Yapp. – From temple in Singapore was founded in 10 April 2014 to 25 Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall 1821 although the present structure, built January 2015. The Peranakan Museum. The old Sun Yat Sen Villa reopened in without nails, was completed only in 1841. 39 Armenian Street, Singapore 179941. October 2011 after extensive renovations website:www.peranakanmuseum.sg with a new name. Fitting tribute is given to The temple Email: [email protected] the former owners of the house, especially is dedicated Tel: 6332 7591. Teo Eng Hock, a son of Teo Lee, one of the to Mazu, National Museum of Singapore. The pioneer Teochew merchants in Singapore, the Daoist museum’s Singapore History Gallery together with his nephew Lim Nee Soon, goddess of pays tribute to the contributions of the were among the loyal supporters of Sun the sea and pioneering Peranakans. On view are protector some outstanding artefacts, including Yat Sen’s bid of all the oil portrait of Lim Boon Keng, to overthrow seamen. Many of the temple’s patrons old photographs, jewellery and sireh the Qing were Peranakan pioneers, such as Tan sets, as well as the magnificent carved government. Tock Seng, who donated $30,000 for wood hearse of Tan Jiak Kim, which is The renovations. He also founded the hospital considered one of the 11 Treasures of exhibition named after him. the National Museum. National Museum shows how The Hokkien Huay Kuan, a community of Singapore, 93 Stamford Road, Tel: Singapore, organisation for Hokkien people in 63323659, Opening Hours: 10am to 6pm and the Chinese community here played Singapore was housed at the temple and Daily (Singapore History Gallery), 10am an important part in this pivotal moment also helmed by Peranakan pioneers. Thian to 9pm Daily (Singapore Living Galleries), of world history. Intimate photos of Hock Keng, 158 Telok Ayer Street, Admission $10 (adults), $5 (senior family life, and of Teo Eng Hock’s nyonya Tel: 6423 4616. citizens above 60), $5 (students, Nsmen), mother, Mrs Teo Lee née Tan Poh Neo Tan Si Chong Su. Built in 1878, Tan Si Free admission to the Singapore Living (granddaughter of the kapitan of Muntok), Chong Su is the ancestral temple of the Galleries from 6pm to 9pm. add charm and a Peranakan angle to the Tan clan, and was founded by prominent http://nationalmuseum.sg. experience. 12 Tai Gin Road, Singapore Baba philanthropists Tan Kim Ching, son Baba House. This 327874, Tel: 6256 7377, Opening Hours: of Tan Tock Seng, and Tan Beng Swee, the heritage house goes 10am-5pm daily. son of Tan back in time to 1928. Website: wanqingyuan.org.sg. Kim Seng. Experience what a The first grand Peranakan LANDMARKS president of terraced house Blair Plain. A typical Peranakan the temple, would have been like. residential area around Spottiswoode Park, Tan Kim Formerly owned by Blair Road and Neil Road which is worth Tian, was a the Wee family (whose a stroll. Visit Guan Antiques nearby at well-known ancestor Wee Bin was Kampong Bahru Road, a treasure trove of Baba shipping tycoon. The temple consists a mid-19th century Peranakan heirlooms. http://www.arch.nus. of shrines for the ancestral tablets of Tan shipping magnate) edu.sg/SOA/design_studio/dds2b/blair/ clansmen, as well as altars to the clan since 1910. 157 Neil study/Blair.html. deities. The elaborate stone and wood Road, Singapore. Tel: 62275731. Visits are Emerald Hill Road. Another interesting carvings as well as the swooping ceramic by guided tours. Please call the house for residential district showcasing the best of roof finials makes this one of the most details. http://www.nus.edu.sg/museum/ eclectic Peranakan residential architecture, elaborate Chinese temples in Singapore, baba/index.html just off Orchard Road. quaintly located amid the gleaming towers Kebon Indah. This exhibition presents Katong and Joo Chiat. Once the nerve of the financial district. Tan Si Chong Su, the Malam Di Jari Kita series of artworks centre of Peranakan life in Singapore. In 15 Magazine Road. its heyday it was the site of nearby grand seaside villas and elaborate Peranakan 35 | ISSUE 4 • 2014

chakap habis the life cycle of a baba Baba Bryan Tan peeks in on the Yeows… At forty eight years of age, outside and make yourself useful, Ah Kor Hock’s wedding lah, you Willie Yeow was quite a feed the fish! Mampus (die) lah, look so much nicer in that.” normal Baba, perhaps in he’s still half naked...” the most traditional sense. He In the time Willie had gone to was faithful to his wife, unlike his Molly clucked her tongue as change, the table was laid. Chap friends, who were usually never she doled out snack boxes on chai, ayam buah keluak, sambal satisfied with just one. Maybe he the living room table, adjusted timun, babi pongteh and a veritable could have had, but being the chief the lace doilies and flapped off host of other Peranakan dishes sat clerk in Telekom did not afford to the kitchen to fetch a pot of on the groaning teakwood table him much leisure or money to sayor lodeh (vegetables in coconut top. Willie stared at himself in a pursue much else other than the gravy) to set on the dining table. side mirror and started applying occasional game of gin rummy. handfuls of his default Code 10 hair Perhaps it was only him, but cream with a comb. He went to church assiduously; babas tend to slow down when twice a week on weekends and their wives open their mouths. Molly critically eyed his slicked during weekday lunch hours for His favourite chair was like the back hair and billowy pants in afternoon mass when his work banana leaf to an ang ku kueh; between ladling out spoonfuls of load permitted it. He would often the moment he left it he would itek tim. ‘You look like an orang chant his trademark refrain to his remain stuck to another surface minyak (oily man) on top and a wife: God is good, but only as long as until pried off with oil. So with hantu raya (great ghost) below. Does you attended mass! great reluctance he trundled my husband need to be such a off into their shared bedroom vainpot? But must say lah, the baju He often thought fondly of his and rifled through the chest of lokchuan does suit you well.’ Willie younger days, when his father was drawers for something to wear. opened his mouth to retort but also a civil servant of impeccable Molly let out a gasp. The doorbell standing, and the times when he Returning to the kitchen, he had rung. had to hide the family jewels and reached for some ondeh ondeh so heirlooms from his mother, a most enticingly laid out, but not before “She’s here! Come, come let’s prolific cherki gambler, to prevent being promptly slapped on the go greet her!” Saved by the bell. He her from pawning them off to hand. “Don’t ruin your appetite let out a loud sigh and grimaced satisfy her most uncatholic-like before dinner! And what is that inwardly. This dinner was going to urges. you are wearing?” shrilled Molly. be a long and tedious one… “Go and wear that nice black and Just the thought of it made him gold baju lokchuan you wore for In our next issue: Read about Grand reach for his rosary, may her soul Aunty herself! rest in eternal peace. The only reason why the valuable antiques, including kamchengs and chupus remain proudly on display was because of his sheer instinct for survival, being the eldest of fifteen children. His blissful reminiscences were abruptly cut off. “WILLIE! Grand Auntie is coming in ten minutes, you know! Put on something to wear!” His wife Molly bustled past like an interminable wind of harried gestures. Like most household leaders, the Peranakan wives held absolute sway over the governing of the family’s operations and expenditure. Willie himself was no exception to this paradigm. “You forgot to put down the toilet seat again! What did I tell you about clipping nails inside the house? Go 36 | ISSUE 4 • 2014