In an earlier announcement (2nd January 2009 http://www.peranakannetworks.com/blog/?p=61) that there will be a forthcoming monograph on Peranakan Chinese Networks, ten topics were mentioned. A few more have been added since, one of which is an important subject which not only requires documenting but which will shed light on a topic, certain to be of interest to us in this region, namely, “The Chiangchews, the true pioneers in the Nanyang”.
We have been very fortunate to get Russell Jones (SOAS, University of London) to join our project. Jones has done work on two languages, Malay and Chinese (among his publications are Chinese names and Chinese loan-words in Malay and Indonesian), which influenced him to investigate a sub-dialect of the Hokkiens, that of the Chiangchews. His chapter will tell us more about the Hokkiens who came to Penang and the neighbouring region. A distinguishing feature of the Chiangchews is the Hokkien sub-dialect spoken, also known as the Penang Hokkien, which appears to be the version also in use in Phuket and Medan.
For those not familiar with the Chiangchews, they were the sub-group of Hokkiens from Zhangzhou (previous Wade-Giles usage, Chang-chou), not Quanzhou (Ch’uan-chou), the port made more well-known on account of Marco Polo’s visit there around 1291 as well as, of course, other writing which highlight the presence of the more than 100,000 Arab traders at that time, with the oldest mosque, said to date from the 11th century. These two commercial cities of SouthFujianProvince had to contend with the rise of Amoy (better known as Xiamen subsequently) by the mid-17th century, which went on to eclipse Zhangzhou.
Map Source: MSN World Atlas
For more on the Penang Hokkien dialect, see two recent publications, the first a Hokkien dictionary, the second, an aid to learn the language.
A preview of the chapter on this topic to form part of the forthcoming monograph on Peranakan Chinese Networks and Identities. (see A Monograph on Peranakan Chinese Networks in the Making 2 Jan 2009 http://www.peranakannetworks.com/blog/?p=61)
Cheah Hwei Fen’s chapter touches on an aspect of Peranakan Material Culture in the Northern Littoral of Southeast Asia, nyonya needlework, a subject which has received relatively little attention in the scholarly literature on the Peranakan. Two types of embroidery, metallic thread and silk thread, and beadwork are examined. A distinctive Penang version can be detected. At the same time, there is evidence of socio-cultural links with relative uniformity in styles and subject matter found in the embroidery of Penang, Melaka, Singapore and Palembang.
Detail from a bead-netted fringe. Penang, first quarter of the 20th century. Private collection. Photo: H. Cheah
In an earlier post, 10 February 2009, we had alerted readers to visit the IGeorgeTown website, the e-newsletter of iGeorgeTown Penang, which is published twice a month.
From the Peranakan Association in KL – to Friends of PPBNKLS (Dr. Lee Su Kim, President )
1.Our first event for this year is a dinner get-together at Tenji restaurant, Solaris, Mont Kiara,on the 18 of April.
It’s just around the corner. Do hope you can join us for a fun evening of friendship and fraternising. Don’t forget to book your tickets - they are going fast.
***
Date : Saturday 18 April 09 Place : Tenji Japanese Buffet Restaurant in Solaris, Mont Kiara.
Time: 7 pm
Price: RM75/per head ( the usual price for this restaurant is RM88+/head. )
Dress Code: Peranakan / Smart Casual
Highlights:
- An after-dinner talk by Dr Neil Khor, the Vice President of the Penang Peranakan Association who will regale us with an entertaining talk on the topic: ‘Bong Khiam Siap: Tales from the Straits Chinese Magazine.’ ( see abstract below)
- live music and dancing
So do come along and meet fellow babas and nyonyas in the KlangValley and friends of the babas and nyonyas.
Bring your family and friends to try out the latest and swankiest Japanese Buffet Restaurant in town.
Tickets are available from committee members on first come first served basis.
Please email the committee at this yahoo address, or Cedric Tan : cedric_cctan@yahoo.com or Mobile No: 0178834374 for tickets.
Abstract of Talk by Dr Neil Khor:
Bong Khiam Siap: Tales from the Straits Chinese Magazine In 1897, slightly more than a century ago, tertiary-educated Straits Chinese community leaders decided to test whether the pen was indeed mightier than the sword by writing and publishing articles about
contemporary life in British Malaya. One method employed to fashion a “modern” identity was through fiction. A flurry of characters came
alive from the parsimonious Bong Khiam Siap to the secret reformer
“Lang Um Chye”. These characters, often caught up in remarkably
improbable plots, reveal the aspirations of our community a century
ago. As we lay claim to “Peranakan” in our own century, it might be
worthwhile looking back for pointers to move ahead. Even if they fail
to inspire, these characters will surely make us laugh.
Short bio: Neil Khor is Vice President of the Penang Peranakan
Association. He is currently Post-Doctoral Fellow at the History
Department, University of Malaya.
2. Membership applications
Applications to join PPBNKLS are still coming in. It is nice to know that there are so many Babas and Nyonyas and enthusiasts/supporters of the Peranakan culture in Kuala Lumpur & Selangor.
I do hope that all those who applied for membership have received responses from the Association and your receipts. We look forward to receiving more applicatons. Don’t worry about the Proposer/Seconder sections as the Committee can fill in those for you.
3. Offer your services
We are looking for more members/supporters/friends whom we can co opt to help us in our activities – if you are keen to do so, please contact us.
Hope to see you all at the dinner. Let’s joli…at Tenji..
Back from another field trip, this time to Medan, your editors have come up against a definition, different from that used in Malaysia, of “Peranakan” as applied to the Chinese who have long made their homes in Southeast Asian countries to which their forefathers traveled in centuries past. Most Southeast Asian ethnic Chinese today are at least settlers of the 2nd generation if not more, thus undeniably “local born” (the “anak” in “Peranakan”). And in Malaysia and Indonesia, based on Tan Chee Beng’s studies of Peranakan Chinese in Melaka and Kelantan, he designated them as “the Malay-speaking Chinese in Southeast Asia”.
However, as noted in the first posting on January 23rd 2008 in this website/blog (http://www.peranakannetworks.com/blog/?m=200801), most of the younger generation now, having gone through schooling in the national language, are fluent in Malay but may choose to converse in a Chinese dialect with family and friends. To them, to be identified as a “Peranakan” may appear strange as they associate it with the older generation whose material culture may reflect the appropriateness of the label.
Currently, aspects of the material culture such as attire and food are the popular markers of the Peranakan, also called the Baba and Nyonya. Nyonya or Peranakan restaurants can be found in most cities while festive occasions such as Chap Goh Meh in Penang, brings out the Baba and Nyonya troupe to perform alongside others celebrating the 15th night of the Chinese New Year. Weddings in the Baba and Nyonya style are still conducted, with wedding planners around to assist.
As for the furniture and other household items such as the crockery (now the much valued antiques categorized as nyonya ceramics or nyonyaware) and jewellery, also seen as features depicting Peranakan culture, these may be less an indicator of the person’s identity but rather of the owner’s socio-economic status since only the wealthy can afford these expensive consumer products.
Nyonyaware, displayed in The Pinang Peranakan Mansion
Our Indonesian friends today still distinguish between those who have adopted the local language and no longer able to speak Chinese as Peranakan as opposed to their compatriots who continue to speak in Chinese dialects and hold on to Chinese traditions as “totoks”, with the implication that the latter are less assimilated with the indigenous communities. In comparative terms in Malaysia, the Chinese who have longer roots in the region, some since the 15th century Melaka Sultanate, were known as “laukhek” (literally old guests) as opposed to the “sinkhek” (new guests) who arrived as part of the massive influx of the 19th century. So too in Indonesia, the pre-19th century migrants who married indigenous women, and their children from those mixed marriages, are deemed to be Peranakan while those who came in large numbers from the 1880s are “totoks”. Strictly speaking, totok Chinese were China-born. However, even till recently, despite being “local-born” and some into the 4th generation, already citizens who are able to speak the Indonesian language in addition to their dialect (hokkien as the lingua franca in Medan) are still not considered Peranakan as they are seen to be culturally Chinese.
Do share with us your views to shed more light on this conundrum.
For more on nyonyaware and Peranakan furniture, here are some links.
