We are NOT Chinese....We are Peranakan
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Sorry: 8 great-grand parents.......... -
Whatever.
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If you follow chunese traditional way of names, then we must all follow the middle name specified in our Family Book (Jia -Pu)
For example: For one branch of the Lum family, the middle names should be : Fook, followed by Toong, then Kuan.......Everyone in 1st generation is Lum Fook xxxx, everyone in second generation is Lum Toong......
By looking at the middle name, you know where you fit in the Lum clan.
the Middle name is printed in the family Book as a Poetic Verse......
Some families can trace their ancestors like this through many generations, some until Confucious, or some other famous guy....
I am afraid we singaporeans have 'lost" the 'family books'..... -
By looking at your surname, you can guess where you cme from
For example : LIU, or Lau
This surname if from the Han Dynasty royal family
Example 2 : LIN or Lim
This surname probably stated that the ancestors came from the forest.....no offence meant.
Example 3 : Hwang or Wong
This surname originated from the Chiang Hsia district. It was confered to a clan which helped the king in his battles in the Chou Dynasty. Sort of a battle medal...... -
hey Mr Who,Originally posted by Dr Who:Our ancestors were poor farmers who could not survive in China. Some were business people. Probably none were high caste mandarins........when they came to Singapore/Malacca, they married low caste locals......I mean which high class family will allow their daughters to marry poor China-men?
1st you started out trying to distinguish the difference between local Straits Chinese from a "Chinese". Next you claimed early Chinese immigrants interbreed with "low caste locals". I am assumed "locals" u meant general ethnic stock Malays ?
Yet you still have not reply to my simple question: Are you a f u c k i ng neo-Nazi Pig Head ? -
Originally posted by Dr Who:
Character of a person and his intelligence is not measured thru his blood line nor family name origin.
If you follow chunese traditional way of names, then we must all follow the middle name specified in our Family Book
Your concept of race and culture runs a similar pattern like those of racist groups who despised other kinds and love making assumptions ön the "low caste" breed.
I strongly urge you to seek immediate treatment on your mental disorder. -
Why apologise ? Instead, Your "great-grand parents", and even your immediate ones, should feel sorry for hving such an off-spring like you.Originally posted by Dr Who:Sorry: 8 great-grand parents.......... -
completely BS. I never heard anything like that from any mainland chinese (me included).Originally posted by Dr Who:In the eyes of the chinese from China, singapore chinese are barbarians trying to pass off as Chinese.
my impression is the opposite. few still want to be chinese in s'pore, most are bananas who know little chinese and self-loathing ang mo wannabes who despise chinese. I remember a while ago there is a poll by the strait times for s'pore kids:"if given a choice, what would you want to be?", majority kids rather chose to be blond haired blue eyed ang mo than chinese. clearly many s'poreans and parents have self-esteem issues, and it's affecting their kids.
do you have any source or did you pull that from your ass?Studies show that more than 30% of Chinese in Singapore had Baba genes 40 years ago.......today maybe 70% are already of mixed blood. Even Lee Kuan Yew is of mixed blood........ so don't call ourselves Chinese......We are not pure Chinese...... we are Peranakan .........Let's be proud of this mixed heiritage.
besides, there is no definition of 100% pure blood chinese, not even in China. Chinese gets to be the biggest race on earth not because our ancestors were virile and sexholics, but because chinese culture kept expanding and absorded sorrounding people. being chinese is a cultural thing, not a genetic thing. -
Lee Kuan yew- baba with malay blood - http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/000405.html
Peranakan Culture-the original culture of local chinese people until Chinese nationalism re-claimed local chinese culture.
http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/singapore/people/peranakan/intro.html
It's sad the young chinese here deny their peranakan roots...... -
It is sad that Dr Who here deny the fact every living human race is the result of thousands of yrs of cross breeding due migration, re-settlement and warfare.Originally posted by Dr Who:Peranakan Culture-the original culture of local chinese people until Chinese nationalism re-claimed local chinese culture. It's sad the young chinese here deny their peranakan roots......
It is even more sad that Dr Who fail to recognise that existence of Perankan Culture is the result of ethnic Chinese influence on the Malayan settlers.
Fact is more disturbing is Dr Who continue his shameful display of facism in multi-cultural Singapore.
His parasitic attempt to sow mistrust must not go unchallenged. -
"the elder statesmen of Singapore and formerly Harry Lee, is of "Baba Chinese" extraction [Some further digging by me indicates his mother is part Baba, while his father's family came too late to the Straits to be considered Baba and is as Jason pointed out more properly identified as Hakka]" - His father is a hakka and his mother is "part Baba", does it make him a baba or a hakka??Originally posted by Dr Who:Lee Kuan yew- baba with malay blood - http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/000405.html
Peranakan Culture-the original culture of local chinese people until Chinese nationalism re-claimed local chinese culture.
http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/singapore/people/peranakan/intro.html
It's sad the young chinese here deny their peranakan roots......
"Update: Jason Soon points out that Lee is of Hakka origin. But, the article above indicates that his mother was partially Malay and I have read that Lee spoke English growing up. The latter tendencies are typical of Babbas. As Babbas are a settler community, I suspect they would have varied regional origins in China." - It says here that " his mother was partially Malay", was she a malay of a chinese, or a peranakan?
What are you? a part malay, part chinese, part peranakan and a certain part unknown???
You are a confused kid!!! Have some respect for your parents and stop talking rubbish here. -
Peranakan are those who comes here 300 to 400 yrs ago.... during the melacca dynasty.Originally posted by Dr Who:Lee Kuan yew- baba with malay blood - http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/000405.html
Peranakan Culture-the original culture of local chinese people until Chinese nationalism re-claimed local chinese culture.
http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/singapore/people/peranakan/intro.html
It's sad the young chinese here deny their peranakan roots......
And most of the chinese in spore and m'sia comes here some 100yrs ago or less and never mixed with local malay.
Many chinese immigrant comes here during the collapse of Manchuria dynasty and WWII.
I think you are the spore famous "ah pek" friend or relative who show ppl backside and foes with the whole street neighbour. Ppl like him makes spore disgrace..... think he is high class but infact a shame..... by showing butt and everyday walk on the street half naked.
Anyway he is a peranakan so he denied all the chinese speaking neighbours. -
Lee Kuan Yew peranakan every chinese in s'pore must be peranakan???Originally posted by Dr Who:Lee Kuan yew- baba with malay blood - http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/000405.html
Peranakan Culture-the original culture of local chinese people until Chinese nationalism re-claimed local chinese culture.
http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/singapore/people/peranakan/intro.html
It's sad the young chinese here deny their peranakan roots......
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Ah, that infamous Chan family of 130B Everitt Road ?Originally posted by LittleTiger:I think you are the spore famous "ah pek" friend or relative who show ppl backside and foes with the whole street neighbour. Ppl like him makes spore disgrace..... think he is high class but infact a shame..... by showing butt and everyday walk on the street half naked.
Anyway he is a peranakan so he denied all the chinese speaking neighbours.
I recalled reading about they hv a issue with their Mandarin/Dialect speaking neighbours. The Chan teacher-daughter was even quoted by CNA saying their neighbours are "low class" because she spoke only Mandarin, not English. Chan told the reporter "I don't know Hokkien, dialects and I don't speak Mandarin. I am English-educated you know?"
Hope they do not represent the general attitude of Singapore's Peranakan community. -
i am pure chinese too bad...my grand parents are from china...and i am proud to be chinese...will be rather sad if u tell i am a nonya...
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Yes, you're telling us that you're low-caste Peranakan.Originally posted by Dr Who:Our ancestors were poor farmers who could not survive in China. Some were business people. Probably none were high caste mandarins........when they came to Singapore/Malacca, they married low caste locals......I mean which high class family will allow their daughters to marry poor China-men?
That's why the Philippine press had labeled us as "low-caste'" and "crude".
China people are more polite......they don't say it.......the fact is....we don't even have a "Jia-Poo" Family Book which lists our ancestors......something ALL Chinese families should have if they are gentlemen.....
................meaning we don't even know our ancestors..........
.................we don't even follow the family middle name..........can you catch what I am saying?
Your honesty is indeed commendable. But do you know that you're a very confused person? 1st you asked the Peranakans to be proud of their heritage then you said that they were low-caste. I really cannot imagine how you can and also expect the other Peranakans to feel proud to be from the low-caste?
I would appreciate your links to your 2 claims:
1) Studies show that more than 30% of Chinese in Singapore had Baba genes 40 years ago.......today maybe 70% are already of mixed blood.
Your link of: http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/singapore/people/peranakan/intro.html
doesn't mention anything close to your allegation at all.
2) That's why the Philippine press had labeled us as "low-caste'" and "crude"
Thanks n cheers -
A baba could refer to a straits Chinese that deliberately taken a Peranakan girl for marriage in the early days during the 19th century, the peculiar Qing refugees from China (usually 4th-5th generations from now, wealthy english speaking family, not muslim but chirstian, substantially due to the early Dutch influences in SE asia). For the cases of Peranakan, they were Chinese migrates too, one of the problems is that those migrates came from the earlier period of time back in the late 15th-16th century into the archipelago, in both cases they were not malay but chinese. The thrifty Chinaman who came out to Southeast Asia for living under the British colonise were not usually considered as the straits Chinese, those migrates that came after the 1911 (2th-3th generations from now), were by large proportion descended from illiterate peasants of countyside. Back in the occuption time, the Japanese also employed straits Chinese working for them (usually being called as traitor to motherland by the newcomer, just like what the PRCs now are calling). So no far from evrything else not all chinese might had the same background.
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Poor thing, had to be self-deprecating in order to urge us to "treat the minorities ... with more respect"!Originally posted by Dr Who:I am willing to face the fact that most of us are not 'pure Chinese', me included. i note many here just cannot accept it. They claim to be pure-breed. If one were to search for the truth, eg can provide evidence that all 8 of your grand parents came direct from China......otherwise, give truth a chance.
If we were to accept the fact that we have Malay blood, then we will learn to treat the minorities in our midst with more respect.......afterall, we also are part-malay.....
All I am asking is that people don't accept but test for the truth. Thank you.
Just tell us that as u believe many of us are of mixed blood we should respect all races. Forummers here have very high moral values and would definitely agree with u. If u go a big round about "jia poo" and make unsubstantiated statements about low-caste and what who and who think of us, then your intentions would become a suspect. For now I think we can give u the benefit of the doubt. -
Well, I consider myself Peranakan in culture at the very least for my ancestors spoke Malay and were brought up in Borneo, and some are Catholic for a few generations already.
And those from my Dad's side came from Malaysia and China.
But hey, who cares whether your ancestors are low-caste or mixed blood, or even pure Chinese, let's all agree that what's important is to respect each other alrite? -
black,white,yellow,orange,pink,purple skin people.............etc are all human being......y bother so much about the past.
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i am a trueblue singaporean but hey Mrwho i have to correct u. I am quite sure i am pure Chinese and have no mixed heritage. My father was not even born here, but in Shanghai outlying area. My mother spent her childhood in Taiwan, so i consider myself a 1st generation Singaporean Chinese. But again in China, you also never know how pure is pure there already!
But i think i can tell how a Perankan look. It is very subtle but u can tell, esp if u r born and bred here for 1/4 of yr life already. This is very rough estimate so it is nv a rule of thumb. Perankan pple looks Chinese but again they also have its differences, mainly in skin tone, facial features, eyes, skull shape and body shape. I notice many Sporean Chinese have deep eye socket, while Chinese from other region have rather flat eyes and face. Their nose not very pointed but narrow and small or porpotionate. Here, i often see pple with broad and meaty nose. Are they Perankan or Chinese Sporean? U wont know unless u ask them. I also notice Chinese people here have not very flat face, kinda sloping and the jawline is more obvious or slight jutting out. Many Chinese Sporean have medium sized eye, socket is not shallow and many are double eye lid. I went to Hanoi last yr and found that actually, Vietnamese and some Sporean Chinese look not much different, other than clothes. posture and body language. Scientists would label them as Southern Chinese stock perhaps, sharing similair genetic qualities.
I read that Blood group can tell a thing or two. Many Sporean Chinese are 0 blood type. Let's take a poll. I am a B. -
i am a trueblue singaporean but hey Mrwho i have to correct u. I am quite sure i am pure Chinese and have no mixed heritage. My father was not even born here, but in Shanghai outlying area. My mother spent her childhood in Taiwan, so i consider myself a 1st generation Singaporean Chinese.
But i think i can tell how a Perankan look. It is very subtle but u can tell, esp if u r born and bred here for 1/4 of yr life already. This is very rough estimate so it is nv a rule of thumb. Perankan pple looks Chinese but again they also have its differences, mainly in skin tone, facial features, eyes, skull shape and body shape. I notice many Sporean Chinese have deep eye socket, while Chinese from other region have rather flat eyes and face. The nose not very pointed but narrow and small. Here, i often see pple with broad and meaty nose. Are they Perankan or Chinese Sporean? U wont know unless u ask them. -
Chinese Singaporean is a term that refers to Singaporeans who are of Chinese descent.
The population of Chinese in Singapore currently stands at slightly more than 3 million out of a total of about 4 million, or about 76.8% of the population.
Contents [showhide]
1 Dialect Groups
1.1 Hokkien
1.2 Teochew
1.3 Cantonese
1.4 Hakka
1.5 Hainanese and Northern Min
1.6 Mandarin and Wu
2 Language
3 Religion
3.1 Traditional religions
3.2 Christian
3.3 Other
4 History
5 See Also
6 External Links
[edit]
Dialect Groups
Nearly all Singaporeans are descended from the Han Chinese, the dominant group of the Chinese in China. The Singaporean Chinese are descended from several dialect groups, originating from various parts of China. Around 70% of the Chinese Singaporeans belong to the Min-nan dialect group, but inter-dialect marriages among the third and fourth generations are making the dialect lines increasingly blur.
[edit]
Hokkien
The Hokkien constitute around 45% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Most came the southern parts of the Fujian province, primarily Xiamen and Quanzhou. They speak Hokkien, a Min-nan dialect, though their Hokkien includes words from Malay.
The element of Spirit Worship, known as Tanki-ism in the Hokkien dialect, was widespread among the older generation. One of the festivals is that of the Nine Emperor Gods, a Taoist commemoration of the Emperors who brought peace and prosperity to the people and the prayer to the Jade Emperor on the 8th day of Chinese New Year.[1] (http://weecheng.com/singapore/9eg/index.htm)
[edit]
Teochew
The second most populous group after the Hokkiens. Although they dominate the Chinese population in Thailand, the Teochew in Singapore constitute around 25% of the Chinese Singaporean population. They mainly come from eight of the ten Chaozhou prefectures in China, with the majority coming from Shantou.
Like the Hokkiens, the Teochews speak the Teochew, a Min-nan dialect. Unlike Hainanese, both Hokkien and Teochew are mutally intelligible.
Chinese settlements with large populations of Teochews used to be found along the banks of Singapore River in Chinatown. To honour their success in their successful commerence, Lee Hsien Loong gave a speech relating to the Teochews of Singapore in November 2003. [2] (http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=2875)
[edit]
Cantonese
The Cantonese made up 16% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Unlike the Hokkien, Teochew and the Hainanese, the Cantonese spoke a dialect belonging to the Yue family.
[edit]
Hakka
The Hakkas constitute 7% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Since their dialect was initially somewhat intelligible to Mandarin, although strongly influenced by Min-nan and Yue, they were believed to have migrated from Northern China between the 16th and the 17th century.
[edit]
Hainanese and Northern Min
This group constitutes 5% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Of them, the majority are Hainanese, from Hainan, speaking Hainanese, a Mandarin dialect.
The others, who included the Hokchew, Hokchia and the Henghuas, who came from Northern Fujian and Southern Zhejiang. They speak a Min-Nan dialect, influenced by Vietnamese. As late-comers to Singapore (late 19th century), most of them worked as shop helpers, chefs, and waiters in the hospitality sector.
[edit]
Mandarin and Wu
The Mandarin and Wu people from Shanghai, Zhejiang and other northern provinces constitute only 2% of the Chinese Singaporean population.
As they are mainly first and second-generation Chinese Singaporeans, and are only Permanent residents, most are temporary migrants who worked as construction laborers, although a few worked as engineers. They speak Mandarin and Wu dialect with a Beijing or Shanghai accent, which is so diverse from the local patois that it is almost unintelligible to the local Chinese Singaporeans.
[edit]
Language
Traditionally, the Singaporean Chinese have a preference of using the dialects of their place of origin as their main avenue of communication. However, since independence, the government has continuously encouraged the Singaporean Chinese to speak only Mandarin, as a process to unify all the Chinese from different dialect groups into one group.
As the traditional southeastern Chinese dialects are not taught in school, the number of their speakers has steadily declined. Many of the young Chinese in Singapore are unable to use their dialects fluently - most can utter no more than a few words. This is even more common among the westernized Chinese Christian community, who speak acrolectal English. Thus only older people continue to use dialects, either as the main form of communication or as their lingua franca. Younger Singaporeans are increasingly using Chinese surnames based on Chinese dialects with given names based on Mandarin pronunciation, rather than dialect-based pronunciations.
English is also used as the business language, and all students are required to master English as their first language and speak Mandarin only during Mandarin class. Singlish is also commonly used among the Singaporeans, including the Singaporean Chinese.
[edit]
Religion
Traditionally, the Chinese are adherents of a mixture of Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and ancestor worship. A sizeable minority of 13% of the Chinese claimed to profess no particular religion, and this is increasing among younger people.
[edit]
Traditional religions
About 67% of the Singapore Chinese still adhere to their traditional religion in varying degrees of devoutness. This group tends to speak Mandarin and/or Chinese dialects at home and follow a Chinese-influenced lifestyle. Most the people in this group came from the lower and middle classes, though some of them belong to the upper-class. Of these, the majority claim to be Buddhist and the remainder Taoist.
Most of the traditional Buddhists would place one or two altars at home, or along the corridors of their HDB flats. The altars often contain the three ancestral gods, namely Wealth (Fok in Cantonese, Fu in Mandarin), (Lok in Cantonese, Lu in Mandarin), and Life (Sao in Cantonese, Shou in Mandarin). The Guan Yin and ancestral tablets may also be placed on the altar in addition to these three gods. A brazier, often painted red, may also be seen. They also hang small urns filled with sand and ash outside the house; this is where joss sticks are placed and used as offerings to the gods.
The traditional Buddhists also visit temples or columbariums at least once a year to pay respects to their ancestors, and to pray for blessings. Temples of this kind, like the Thien Hock Keng temple, can be found all over Singapore.
When there is a death in the family, the relatives of the deceased will organise a funeral ceremony. These ceremonies are usually held at HDB void decks The deceased is placed in a wooden coffin. Buddhist or Taoist monks are then called to preside, and they chant mantras and prayers for the deceased to ward off evil spirits. During the funeral ceremony, the relatives of the deceased will burn incense paper and pray for the deceased. A typical funeral ceremony will last around 3 or 5 days.
At the end of the ceremony, a hearse will transport the body to the crematorium, where the body will be cremated. As the body is cremated, the monks are also present to pray for the deceased. The ashes are placed in an urn, which is then placed in a columbarium or temple, where an ancestral tablet is used to indicate the location of the urn. -
[edit]
Christian
A minority (20%) of Singaporean Chinese, which is equal to the total number of religious adherents in Singapore to 13.5% are Christian. Most of the Chinese Christians belong to the Protestant, Anglican or Roman Catholic denominations. They form the majorty of the Chinese Singaporeans of the westernized upper class, though some can be found in the middle class. Like their Buddhist counterpart, a very small number of them are actually nominal or near-nominal Christians.
This group, unlike the former, are highly westernized and tend be very well educated in western rather than Chinese ways. Unlike Buddhists, Christians tend to eat in western rather than Chinese ways.
Christians do not place many religious items or altars at home, though a cross may be placed above the doorway of the house. Christians normally attend church services on Sundays, though church services on Saturdays or even weekdays are not uncommon. Services may last anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours or longer.
Services are mainly held in English, though some churches have services in different languages, notably Mandarin, Tamil, Tagalog and on rarer occasions, Chinese dialects.
When there is a death, the ceremony is normally held in the church, though funeral ceremonies may be allowed at HDB void decks. The members of the church attend the ceremony and verses of the Bible are read, and prayers said to mourn for the deceased. A head of the church will also be there, presiding over the funeral ceremony.
At the end of the ceremony, the family members and some of the church members will walk to the graveyard, with the coffin being transported by a hearse. Upon reaching the destination, the church staff, along with the family of the deceased will pay their final respects as the burial takes place. However, due to the land constraints in Singapore these days, most Christians too are cremated.
The step for modernization and westernization has witnessed growth in the Christian population in the 1980's from 10% to 18% in 1988 of the Singapore's population, although in recent years it has dropped to 15%. Fundamentalist Protestant and Catholic denominations has seized the chance to proselytise the Chinese of the upper class in the 80's and early 90's. The number of non-religious Chinese also increased substantially, as the influence of Buddhism took a downturn, as the rich and educated Chinese Singaporeans viewed Buddhism as an obstacle to the modern context of society.
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Other
Another 13% of the Chinese Singaporean are non-religious and they call themselves "free thinkers". In Singapore, this term means that the person does not believe in any religion. However, some may practise Chinese traditions and practices.
An small minority of the Singapore Chinese follow either Islam or Hinduism. Most people from this group are Chinese men or women who are married to Malay spouses and have converted to Islam, which is part of the Malay marriage custom, regardless of his/her religion. If a Chinese Man marries a Malay, the children will still follow the surname/language/culture/race of the Chinese father. The Chinese Hindus are mainly women who have married Indian men.
[edit]
History
The Chinese were present in Singapore even before the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles, who founded it: 14th-century Chinese sources state that there was already a sizeable Chinese population along the entire Southern coast. According to the traveller Wang Dayuan, the Chinese in Singapore dressed in traditional Malay costume and largely intermarried with the local Malay women, following an amalgam of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Those were the earliest Peranakans of Singapore.
Sir Stamford Raffles soon founded Singapore as a port, and the free trade policy attracted many Chinese from mainland China to trade, and most settled down in Singapore. The large influx of Chinese to Singapore led to many Chinese associations, schools, and Buddhist temples. New settlements were created under the Raffles Town Plan and the Chinese immigrants soon outnumbered the Malays. During this period, Christian missionaries from Europe also began to evangelize the Asians, especially the Chinese. Entrepot trade turned Singapore into a trading centre by the middle of the 19th century. By 1849, the Chinese reached half of Singapore's population.
Some immigrant Chinese parents, dissatisfied with the Qing government, made the decision to settle in Singapore, and sent their children to English missionary schools in the hope of a better future. This pattern of westernization lasted right until after World War 2.
The Sino-Japanese War that broke out in 1937 between China and Japan caused resentment among the Chinese. For the sake of their motherland, many returned to China to fight the Japanese. With the invasion of the Japanese into Singapore in 1942, the Kempeitai (Japanese Secret Police) tracked down many of the Chinese who had fought against them. However, the Kempeitai's Sook Ching selection of people to be executed was largely a random process carried out by masked informers. There were also anti-Japanese forces during the war, such as Force 136, headed by Lim Bo Seng.
Soon after WWII, partly due to several communist uprisings in Singapore and Malaya, riots between the Chinese and the Malays were widespread. As a result, a state of emergency was declared, and curfews were imposed on the local populace from the 1950s to 1960s.
One example was the riot on Prophet Muhammad's birthday between Malays and Chinese on 21 July 1964. Many were injured or killed during the riots. Racial Harmony Day was thereafter observed in Singapore. The riots were a major factor leading to the separation from Malaysia in 1965.
Today, the Chinese Singaporeans are generally considered one of the strongest and most economically powerful peoples in the world. International trade was established with other countries, particularly with neighbouring Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China. This also attracted many recent Chinese immigrants all over from China to work and settle down in Singapore, eventually displacing the age-old Chinese influences. -
Mr Who , i guess it answers what u are questioning?