---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Cultural insight into Baba and Nyonya Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 17:26:38 -0000 From: "kRikil"
New Straits Times (M) Berhad It's History: Cultural insight into Baba and Nyonya Khoo Kay Kim Oct 21: EMILY of Emerald Hill, performed recently in Kuala Lumpur, is a play which should be of special interest to Malaysians. Many, however, may not have an intimate understanding of the culture it attempted to depict. The term "Baba community" is not alien to Malaysians but few have any clear idea of the people who are loosely referred to as Baba and Nyonya. In the beginning, there were two separate groups. Those in Malacca and those in Penang. The former predated the latter. But it would be a mistake to think of the Malacca Baba or Peranakan (local-born) Chinese as those descended from Hang Li Po's contemporaries. In the first place, the very accurate Ming records do not contain information of a Chinese princess marrying the ruler of Malacca. Secondly, after the Portuguese conquest of Malacca, practically all the Chinese traders left the place. The Chinese began to return to Malacca after the Dutch had expelled the Portuguese in 1641. As the early Chinese migrants did not bring their women, they conjugated with local women, many of whom were from Sumatra; but not all of them were Muslims. In the case of Penang, the Baba community emerged after 1786. There, the local women who had conjugal or cohabitual relationships with the Chinese included those from Burma (Myanmar) and Siam (Thailand). Though the name of each progenitress was not known, in each family she was remembered as tok nenek and was regularly worshipped. Her ethnic belonging was known. One deity commonly worshipped by the Peranakan Chinese of Penang was Toa Peh Kong, considered to be the deity of prosperity and therefore worshipped mainly by businessmen. The annual Ching Gay procession is in celebration of Toa Peh Kong who was also worshipped by the Chinese in Rangoon (Yangon) but not in China and certainly not on the same scale, if at all worshipped, in Malacca. When Singapore was taken possession of by the British in 1819, many of the Malacca Baba, especially the younger generation, moved to the island to advance their commercial careers. The Baba in Singapore therefore had very close ties with the Baba in Malacca. Both groups did not speak Chinese. The Penang Baba, on the other hand, in general, spoke and still speak Hokkien at home. But their Hokkien is noticeably different from that spoken in the various districts in Fujien province. The Penang Baba are of opinion that their Hokkien, at first laced with Malay, later English words as well, is more refined. They once referred to themselves as Queen's or King's Chinese. Few male members of the Malacca Peranakan Chinese settled down in the Malay states. But many of the Malacca Nyonya married totok or China- born Chinese (e.g. Yap Ah Loy). On the other hand, members of the Penang Peranakan Chinese community (male and female) proliferated in Kedah, Perak and Selangor (mainly Kuala Lumpur and Klang). In the 19th century, they were the leading businessmen in these states. They were also among the non-Malays in the clerical service in the Malay states. Not a few were teachers too in English schools and, as may be expected, court interpreters. The Baba Chinese were the earliest among the Chinese to take to modern sports: athletics, soccer, cricket, hockey, polo, rugby, tennis, badminton, boxing, swimming, weightlifting and body building. They were not actively involved in basketball, volleyball and table- tennis. There were no close social ties between the Penang and Malacca Baba although membership of the Straits Chinese British Association, founded around the turn of the 20th century, comprised both groups of Peranakan Chinese, including those of Singapore. The origin of the term "Baba" is not clear to most people. It was in fact an honorific title � only the well-to-do were referred to as Baba (e.g. Baba See Boon Teong). In later years, when totok Chinese had outnumbered the Peranakan, it was practically replaced by the Chinese term "towkay" (literally head of the family) which in fact helps to indicate that "Baba" meant the same. It was, however, derived from Arabic. Because of their hybrid culture, there is a tendency to assume that the Baba were politically alienated from China. There were, in fact, two groups. One remained aloof from China's politics; but the other, at least during the early stage of the spread of Chinese nationalism in this country, were very close adherents of Dr Sun Yat-sen. Some of the well-known Baba in Penang and Singapore helped to fund his revolutionary activities. It is interesting to note that, in the mid-50s, at the time when the Alliance had just been formed, the Straits Chinese British Association approached the Alliance and requested to be allowed to join the Alliance direct and not via the MCA but Umno did not agree. This was before the formation of ADMO (Alliance Direct Membership Organisation) which, incidentally, also flopped. Malaysians should not be under the impression that political, and not just ethnic, separatism exists in the country because of the divide- and-rule policy of the British. Though cultural diversity may be publicly advocated, in practice there is a tendency to extol pristine purity (more imagined than real) among each ethnic group in this country. More plays in the mould of Emily of Emerald Hill will help younger Malaysians to be aware that this society is unique because of its cultural diversity. In a highly globalised world, culturally-exposed people are likely to be able to make better adjustments than those whose cultural world view is walled in. But unless young Malaysians are given the opportunity to know other cultures closely, socially they will be instinctively introverted rather than extroverted. -- Thanks and warm regards, Handoyo Apointe.com - http://www.apointe.com Domain registration service --------------------------------------------------------------------- Kelenteng.com - http://www.kelenteng.com Posting, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
