'Peranakan' key spice in S'pore gastronomic history
'Peranakan' key spice in S'pore gastronomic history
Tony Ryanto, Contributor, Singapore
If you visit Singapore, the words peranakan, baba and
nyonya are scattered about. Most likely you will pay no attention
to them as, to some extent, no matter how vague they are, you
already have an idea of what they mean.
The three words, however, have special importance in promoting
the island republic's tourism and national harmony.
On Orchard Road there is a popular eating place, a peranakan.
This shop, located near the Outram Park MRT (Mass Rapid Transit)
station, offers a fairly large variety of rice dumplings (in
Indonesia known as bacang, from bah-chang -- bah meaning pork).
Among them are nyonya rice dumplings.
You may think the nyonya variety is similar to the one in
Jakarta. It is not because all dumplings in Singapore are made of
sticky rice, while here you can have a choice between rice and
glutinous rice dumpling. Also there are no halal (allowed to be
eaten by Muslims) bacang in Singapore, because they are all pork
dumplings.
The word baba is also familiar in Indonesia. Generally, it
stands for a Chinese man. We know Ali Baba, which in this context
is definitely not the famous Arabian fable 1001 Nights, but a
derogatory term for an Indonesian business enterprise run by an
indigenous person (Ali) but backed by a Chinese (baba) financier.
Our aim is to explore the meaning of these particular words as
they are used in Singapore. In Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia,
peranakan means keturunan anak negeri dengan orang asing -- the
offspring of a married couple comprising an indigenous and a non-
indigenous resident.
In Singapore, peranakan always means Chinese peranakan made up
of Babas (men) and Nyonyas (women). In the early 19th century, a
lot of Chinese traders settling in the straits (Penang, Malacca,
Singapore) and parts of Thailand and Indonesia married indigenous
women, leading to the birth of peranakan who are also known as
Straits Chinese.
Not surprisingly, compared with their fellow non-baba
countrymen, peranakan are more closer integrated with the
citizens of the country in which they reside. Many of them could
not speak Chinese. Instead they communicated in Malay or
Indonesian.
Over the years, peranakan have acquired slightly different
physical looks in that they have wider eyes and slightly darker
skin. It goes without saying that ultimately peranakan have
developed their own culture, cuisine, dress and architecture.
A major tourist attraction in Singapore is the nyonya cuisine,
much of which are making use of local ingredients such as
belachan or terasi (condiments made from pounded and fermented
shrimp or small fish), coconut milk, turmeric, candle-nuts, lemon
grass, chili and ginger.
Among peranakan delicacies are: nasi lemak (rice cooked in
coconut milk served with peanuts, fried fish, shredded omelette),
rendang (beef cooked with coconut milk and chili), udang kuah
pedas nanas (hot shrimp soup with sliced pineapple), laksa lemak
(coconut curry noodle soup with chili sauce), popiah (spring
roll) and fiery chili crab.
The nyonya dress that has gained international recognition is
the sarong and kebaya (woman's blouse the front of which is
pinned together). Often called kebaya encim (the latter standing
for Chinese woman), it is generally intricately embroidered,
coupled with lace work and is made of expensive transparent Swiss
voile.
Expensive brooches known as kerosang go with the kebaya. The
combination is not complete without the woman putting on a hair
piece known as konde, chignon or bun.
There was a time when the outfit reigned supreme in Indonesia,
notably during the Dutch colonial period and for several decades
after independence in August 1945.
Baba architecture makes use of a combination of Chinese, Dutch
and British styles. Traditional terraced houses remain largely
Chinese in their forms and arrangements, often coupled with multi
courtyards.
Plaques, scroll paintings, embroideries, carved door frames
and partitions are typically Chinese. But, in contrast, there are
classical pillars, beams, cornices, dadoes, shutters and doors
very much influenced with colonial architecture.
Visitors can have a look at peranakan culture in the Asia
Civilization Museum, the youngest among three National Heritage
Museums, at 39 Armenian Street, a 10 minute walk from City Hall
or the Dhoby Gaut MRT station.
An outstanding feature are the elaborate peranakan wedding
practices. An intricate wedding bed -- with well-crafted poles as
well as carefully embroidered bed covers and pillow cases -- is
on display.
A bride is adorned in an elaborate dress, decked in fine
jewelry. The headgear is made of gold or silver, the earrings are
huge, the kebaya is completely embroidered and the shoes are made
of brocade.
No wonder, it takes at least six months to prepare a typical
peranakan wedding.
Peranakan have retained a great deal of Chinese ceremonies and
traditional practices of ancestor worship but they have added
distinctive local touches, taking into consideration local
customs, habits and practices.
The end product is a unique blend of Chinese, Malay and
European legacy at the peranakan gallery.
In 1984, then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew had this to say: "In
the generation that is under 40 years, the differences between
the Chinese-educated and the English-educated have been blended
and blurred by interaction in integrated schools, the ones that
first started to teach Chinese-stream and English-stream students
in the same compounds.
"Then there were many integrated families where some children
went to the English-stream and others went to Chinese-stream
schools. So the cultural differences have almost disappeared."
The most important move aimed at a single Chinese identity
among Chinese Singaporeans was the Government's equation of
Mandarin with the Chinese language. In 1981, a new educational
policy for ethnic Chinese pupils came into force, which makes
learning Mandarin, as their "mother tongue", compulsory.