Seasons of Darkness:Life for Minorities in Singapore
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Tell me when there is a Hattori in your extended clan.Originally posted by Short Ninja:Years ago someone from Penang wrote a thick book on "Straits Chinese"and that was how I came to understand and confirm my Baba roots.Peranakan is just a malay terminology which should include descendants of non-chinese immigrants.However it is most popularly associated with the straits born Chinese.The "Peranakan" version of Thailand is Luk Jin and Mestizos for the Philippines.When I was in JC I went to an Indian classmate home in Toa Payoh,to my surprise his malaccan grandmother spoke fluent Baba Malay and not a word of Tamil.When she told me she was 100% Peranakan I went
but she did say Peranakan and not Baba so now I understand what she meant.My grandpa was a Luk Jin who married a Malay woman (grandma)also from Pattani .My grandmother on my mother side was from Malacca and she married my grandfather who was from an Indonesian Chinese family in Kalimantan.I have a Thai Surname but family members included are the Wee,Tan,Goh & Yap.......thank God there are no Lee> 
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I think the young Peranakans have amazingly evolved in just one generation,they are now namesake Babas and fully "Chinese".The "Malay" in Peranakan I see from my perspective is the Baba dialect,the kebaya and the close bond between family members.Are you saying that Malays are more unlikely to migrate due to some reasons? Maybe its the genetic fear of having to move to another land to start over after all the Malays were in fact the earliest settlers of South East Asia.Originally posted by sgdiehard:It will be interesting to know how much of the 'Chinese' is left in the Peranakan today, or how 'Malay' are they now.
There is one good thing I know from my Peranakan friend, they don't think of migrating to US or Australia even they do not like the way things are happening in Singapore or Malaysia, probably that is the 'Malay' in them. -
That one diferent story lahOriginally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Tell me when there is a Hattori in your extended clan. 
but by the way..there is a Hattori family(Singaporeans) living in Yokohama and their story is more Jialat than mine. -
Too many Han Chinese immigrating to SEA? Most of us pernakans are increasingly sinonized.Originally posted by Short Ninja:I think the young Peranakans have amazingly evolved in just one generation,they are now namesake Babas and fully "Chinese".The "Malay" in Peranakan I see from my perspective is the Baba dialect,the kebaya and the close bond between family members.Are you saying that Malays are more unlikely to migrate due to some reasons? Maybe its the genetic fear of having to move to another land to start over after all the Malays were in fact the earliest settlers of South East Asia. -
And all these times I thought you were Chinese Jew >Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Too many Han Chinese immigrating to SEA? Most of us pernakans are increasingly sinonized. -
Honestly, many peranakan I know are really not much of 'Chinese', nor 'Malay', and their parents lamented that they are not so peranakan now, too westernized. Their parents speak Hokkian, Baba Malay, wear kebaya, cook very very nice peranakan food, and lots of emphasis on tightly knitted family bond. Today, how many of the young peranankans do that anymore? The problem is the same with the traditional Chinese families, hokkian, hainanese...all the same. The cantonese tend to hold firmer to their tradition, most of the younger generation still speak cantonese.Originally posted by Short Ninja:I think the young Peranakans have amazingly evolved in just one generation,they are now namesake Babas and fully "Chinese".The "Malay" in Peranakan I see from my perspective is the Baba dialect,the kebaya and the close bond between family members.Are you saying that Malays are more unlikely to migrate due to some reasons? Maybe its the genetic fear of having to move to another land to start over after all the Malays were in fact the earliest settlers of South East Asia.
Some how none of my Malay friends even talk about emmigrating, may be they prefer Singapore and Malaysia where islam is much more respected. I don't really know. During the colonial days, many Chinese, Indian migrated to UK, australia, never saw any Malay migrate. May be the Malays are more contented with whatever they have, more comfortable with tropical environment...is that generic. -
By definition peranakans' ancestors are non Malay immigrants married to Malays. Today, the non Malay part of the culture don't seem to exist anymore. don't know how much of the Luk Jin retain their Thai culture, the Mestizos retain their Philipinno culture, definitely many of the peranakan have lost their Chinese culture, except their surname, probably. If the original Chinese and Malay cultures were lost in the evolving of the Straits Peranakan culture, how much of this culture is left in the community?Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Too many Han Chinese immigrating to SEA? Most of us pernakans are increasingly sinonized.
sinonized? The few Chinese words you learned in singapore school hardly make you anymore Chinese beyond your skin colour and your surname. Westernized, is definitely more appropriate, with the onslaught of western education that came with colonialization, western culture that came from Hollywood, western commumerism that came from McDonald....! -
When Chrismas island was sold to Australia some Malays automatically migrated overnightOriginally posted by sgdiehard:By definition peranakans' ancestors are non Malay immigrants married to Malays. Today, the non Malay part of the culture don't seem to exist anymore. don't know how much of the Luk Jin retain their Thai culture, the Mestizos retain their Philipinno culture, definitely many of the peranakan have lost their Chinese culture, except their surname, probably. If the original Chinese and Malay cultures were lost in the evolving of the Straits Peranakan culture, how much of this culture is left in the community?
sinonized? The few Chinese words you learned in singapore school hardly make you anymore Chinese beyond your skin colour and your surname. Westernized, is definitely more appropriate, with the onslaught of western education that came with colonialization, western culture that came from Hollywood, western commumerism that came from McDonald....! I suppose each Singapore household differ and is undergoing some kind of change in language and culture. The Teochew and Mandarin speaking Bangkok Peranakans are more Chinese than the Southerners.The Pattani babas have strong links with their relatives across the border as far as Penang and many hold dual citizenship to this day.They are well assimilated into the Thai society and are more Thais at heart.From my contact with Filipino Chinese friends....I would say they are very Filipino except that I could never see them wear a natioanal flag other than an American flag but then again all Filipinos are American wannabees rite?
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Wait a minute.... Or am I a Han Chinese being pernakanized?Originally posted by Short Ninja:And all these times I thought you were Chinese Jew >