'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.