Here is a preview from the paper entitled “Rangoon, Penang and Singapore Linkages” by

Daw Win who is currently a Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow, at the National Library, Singapore. It will form part of the monograph on Peranakan Chinese Networks.

An example of Penang-Rangoon links via marriage

 Lim Chin Tsong, OBE (1867 – 1923) was perhaps one of the most flamboyant Burmese oversea-Chinese tycoons known to many foreigners in Rangoon during his time. He married a Penang Peranakan woman. Incidentally, it was reported that the businessmen in those days preferred Peranakan women of Chinese descent from Penang for their virtues, namely that they were able to manage the finances for their husbands as well as keeping their households in order. In addition, they proved to be witty mates due to their ability to speak English with some level of fluency at social gatherings.

We would love to hear from readers who may have knowledge of such connections forged via marriage, or through other means such as business dealings over a period of time, leading to other forms of interaction (for example, shared religious or cultural enterprises as in donations to temples or visits by entertainment groups to locations in the region).

Our latest member, Ken Yap has been looking for more information on his great grandmother. It seems that this message sent to friends since late 2005, and posted on another website, remains unanswered. Perhaps he will be more lucky this time and can get some help from our readers. He also has a question as to possible resemblance to another well-known personality (see the photos below). Here is Ken’s message:

“ I’m still trying to trace my Nonya ancestry, and have found out that my great grandmother’s surname was KHOO and not HEW as previously thought (Hew is the Hakka pronunciation). Her full name was KHOO AN NEO (邱安娘， died 25th. October 1930). So, if anyone knows of a MALACCA Nonya called Khoo An Neo, who married a K.L. Hakka called YAP HIN ( 叶兴, died 24th. April 1924 aged 60), please let me know.

Yap Hin was in timber and provided the timber for the wooden sleepers of the Malayan railway tracks. He was a sinkeh, and he got this contract because he found a wallet and returned it to the rightful owner, who turned out to be an Englishman in charge of setting up the rail system.
The ancestral house was in Pudu; the timber factory’s name was Kong Tai Loy in Cantonese ( 广泰来). Much of Cheras and Pudu was our “territory”, including Star cinema and, of course, quite a few descendants still own the shophouses along Lorong Yap Hin.

Yap Hin had 3 wives, Mdm. Khoo being the main one, and only one child was produced (from Mdm. Khoo) - my grandfather, YAP KON FAH ( 叶观华 born 1894, died 17th. July 1959). Yap Kon Fah also had 3 wives. I am descended from the third.
My second grandmother was also a Nonya and her name was Mdm. ONG CHOY NEO ( 黄财娘 died 8th. July 1948). Her father’s name was ONG TUCK SUAH

( 黄塔山) and they stayed in a link townhouse in Tengkat Tong Shin, Kuala Lumpur. Ong Choy Neo couldn’t conceive, so she adopted. Both Nonyas were very garang and stuck to themselves!

If you ever come across any of these people in your research, please do let me know. Yap Hin and Yap Kon Fah are quite well documented, but hardly anything is known about Mdm. Ong Choy Neo… and MDM. KHOO AN NEO, of course, is of utmost importance as I have some of her DNA!

Included in the scans below is the only photograph I have of Mdm. Khoo and Yap Hin, my paternal great grandparents. (Is it just me, or does my great grandmother bear more than a passing resemblance to Mrs. Tan Jiak Kim?)

Thanks again! I’ll keep my fingers more tightly crossed this time!”

Mrs Tan Jiak Kim      Madam Khoo and Yap Hin

This is a first look at what the chapter on this topic (which will form part of the monograph on Peranakan Chinese Networks) will touch on.

USM Professor Tan Sooi Beng, Musical director of Anak-Anak Kota’s musical theatre such as Kisah Pulau Pinang, Ronggeng Merdeka and Opera Pasar, offers her view on the various ways which can be employed to include and involve the younger generation to sustain and revitalize the distinct eclectic culture of the Peranakan. Her paper will flesh out how “creative projects such as those run by Anak-Anak Kota … [can] assist in reclaiming a viable role and restoring a meaningful place for traditions in the community.”

Here are some links for more on the Anak-Anak Kota arts heritage program based in Penang.

http://www.arts-ed-penang.org/index.htm

http://ardenkhoo.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/anak-anak-kota-arts-in-the-city-holiday-program-design-mural-painting/

Timothy Tye’s website on Penang provides useful information for the traveler, from sightseeing, transport and accommodation to a section on food, essentially choices on the range of hawker food available, with helpful tips as to location. With reference to local cuisine, he has a section entitled, “Ingredients of a nyonya kitchen”.

As his list is by no means comprehensive, perhaps those who consider themselves to be connoisseurs of nyonya cooking can add to his list, so that those wishing to whip up tasty dishes can draw on those more knowledgeable, willing to share.

http://www.penang-traveltips.com/penang-nyonya-kitchen.htm

At a recent workshop in Penang, which brought together researchers working on Penang and the region; the subject, Peranakan Chinese Networks, was explored. The underlying assumption is that as cultural hybrids, there are many types of Peranakan Chinese both historically and in contemporary times. This means that there is also an equally wide variety of political, economic, socio-cultural, linguistic and literary networks involving the community. Penang, in this case, anchors those networks and forms a basis for comparative studies. Historians, anthropologists, musicologists, literary theorists and cultural activists contributed papers to the workshop.

            The following topics will be part of the monograph:

• Hybrid Identities in the British Empire
• Cosmopolitanism and Globalization in the Age of Empire
• Penang as Commercial Centre: Trade and Shipping Networks
• Rangoon, Penang and Singapore Linkages
• The Phuket Baba in the Peranakan Network of Southeast Asia
• The Revitalization of Peranakan Performing Arts.
• Literature and Penang Straits Chinese Identities
• Peranakan Material Culture in the Northern Littoral of Southeast Asia
• Peranakan Associations in the 21^st Century
• A Resource Centre for Information and Documentation on Peranakan Chinese, SCPA

Posted by Loh Wei Leng