dalam dapor learning to cook in post-independence Singapore Nyonya Linda Chee reminisces on growing up with cuttings and cookbooks next to her study table

Singapore was in dire straits after independence in 1965. The young nation had been cast out of Malaysia. The British armed forces were moving out East of Suez, threatening high unemployment. Money was tight for the local populace during those early years. It was a luxury to dine in the few fancy restaurants like Troika or Cathay. Schoolchildren invariably went home for their meals before hawker centres made eating out affordable decades later. Home cooking was thus an essential routine of daily life. English-educated Peranakan housewives and their daughters, or sons who liked to cook, honed their culinary skills largely from local cookbooks, magazines or newspapers. It was also a time when girls learnt the domestic sciences in school. porridge, curry puffs, bubor cha cha, banana hoon here’s your sugar?” a stern Mrs kueh and a Eurasian curry called fish moolie. But Wan remarked as she bit into for the most part, we were taught how to prepare the rock bun. My partner, Teo Lee W“ English food. In anglicised fashion, we cooked our Huang, and I were mortified. We had overlooked this first French toast; fried eggs sunny side up; and essential ingredient. Our eyes fell to the ground. baked marble cake, scones and shortcrust biscuits, Three golden rock buns dotted with dark raisins fell where we rubbed lumps of butter into flour with from the corner of my tray onto the cold floor. None cool fingers until they looked like breadcrumbs. We broke. Our shortcrust wonders were rocks indeed. learnt how to cream butter and sugar until glossy Lee Huang and I muffled giggles but quickly shut with a wooden spoon, in a Green’s mixing bowl up. Mrs Wan was not amused. made in England. So much for beginner’s luck. It was my first cookery lesson at Raffles Girls’ Secondary School (RGS). I was in Secondary One in 1970. But I was undeterred by that humbling start and loved my cookery classes every Tuesday. Our bible was Let’s Learn to Cook, authored by Mrs Christina M C Fones in 1970. Our principal was the cultured Miss Evelyn Norris, much feared and much loved by many. All Secondary One and Two classes had to undergo domestic science training. We had to become proficient in skills that would make us good wives. From the single-storey Home Economics Block along Anderson Road, long demolished since, Mrs Fones and Mrs Wan taught gingham-aproned teenagers how to cook, sew and keep the house and kitchen in proper order. For reasons that I had no clue then, we also attended technical class, where we commuted to Swiss Cottage Secondary School for two years to do woodwork and metalwork. It was fun sawing and drilling, and probably good for nation building. But to me it was largely a waste of time. I was more interested in cooking. Just a small pile of the Armed with our orange compendium, my classmates recipes I had amassed and I learnt to cook local favourites such as chicken over 40 years.

30 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 learning to cook in post-independence Singapore I opted for domestic science as a subject for ring stoves in my ‘O’ levels. Instead of struggling with the pure her straight-cut sciences like physics and chemistry, I breezed cheongsam and through two years of planning menus and cooking pumps. lavish meals. It was a joyous episode of building up My copy of my foundational skills in Western-style cooking. Mrs Fone’s I discovered that successful roasts and bakes classic was long depended on precise ingredients and temperatures, gone when we in contrast with the agak agak (estimating) style moved house. of Peranakan cooking that I picked up from my The one you see mother, Low Suan Neo. here is a dog- I had found my element with the oven. eared collectible Swiss rolls, sandwich cakes, doughnuts, éclairs, kindly lent blancmange and the spiffy trifle – these mouth- to me by my watering ang mo desserts were demystified in the friend, Low school kitchen. Western cooking was so methodical. Whee Hoon. Even with sauces. To this day, whenever I cook Thumbing a stew, I still see in my mind’s eye Mrs Wan through the stirring flour into melted butter in a saucepan to pages and reminiscing her French Who can forget demostrate a roux. As she added the milk a little at toast days, Whee Hoon is inspired to Let’s Learn a time over gentle heat, keeping the roux perfectly try out at least a couple of recipes, to Cook, with smooth, the girls would be covertly admiring our like our famous rock buns! its brilliant elegantly dressed teacher, standing between the orange cover? Yellowed Cuttings My apprenticeship at home began at my mother’s side as her sous chef. I assembled ingredients and sliced them meticulously – a must! – before I could graduate to frying rempahs and cooking whole dishes. Besides the home kitchen and formal study at RGS, I had few

A smattering of yellowed recipe cuttings that remind us of the lifestyles in post-independence Singapore.

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other avenues to learn to cook. Black-and-white television aired news, comedies, wrestling and the Andy Williams Show. I could not understand cooking programmes in Chinese on Rediffusion. If my mother did not venture to community centres for cooking classes, neither did I. Our treasure trove came from magazines and newspapers. I have to thank my mother for instilling in me a passion for collecting recipes. Since I was a toddler, she had been subscribing to the UK-based Woman’s Own, Woman and the local Her World magazines, later adding Female. After poring over them from front to back, she would cut out the recipes neatly and compile them in plastic files. Or paste them in large foolscap exercise books, the ones that came with speckled black covers taped in red at the spine. My mother copied recipes in cursive British-style longhand, in a mix of patois and ungrammatical English that only Peranakans could understand. With measures like genggam (handful), jari (thumb- sized) and mangkok (cupful). “Aiyee, ya juga,” she would say as she gleefully recorded cooking tips or short cuts revealed by this auntie or that grandauntie from Singapore and Malacca. Holidays were the best time of the year. We cousins would bunch together and play the whole day or persiang taugeh (pluck the roots off the bean sprouts) while a cacophony of our nyonya mothers gossiped as they prepared popiah or mee siam in the backyard of our house. I have duly documented my mother’s precious versions during school holidays, we had Cuttings from of Peranakan dishes, many of which were handed plenty of time on our hands at Her World in down from my grandmother. I have also kept home. I designed my own recipe the 1960’s. Ellice Handy was important recipes from my late mother-in-law, Ada book when I was 13 years old. The cover was lovingly wrapped perhaps the first Law (Mum Ada), such as for curry powder, rendang local celebrity chef. and butter cake, which is my husband Colin’s all- in Reynold’s aluminium foil time favourite. with a giant cut-out of a doughnut in the middle, Before the days when half of Singapore flew out surrounded by smaller cut-outs of dishes. Many

32 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 of the recipes were copied by hand. Just the other day I dusted it from a corner of my bedroom. The foil has discoloured and deteriorated with age. It looks amateurishly silly now. Still, my book was a carefree schoolgirl’s work of art. Every long holiday break until I was in Secondary Four, I would be at the verandah of our terraced house using my father’s white Olympia typewriter to copy recipes from the magazines. In the process I mastered speed typing, later becoming the fastest on the keyboard at the School of Journalism in Times Organisation (now Singapore Press Holdings). As a schoolgirl, I While thinking about what to write for this Female magazine was also copiously typed out article, I remembered keeping a pile of cuttings very popular among home cooks. recipes from British hoping that I would try out a recipe or two when Its recipes commanded such magazines. It was I had the time. Trust a working mother to say that. influence that a host of annual a great way to Fortunately, Colin did not send them to the recycle cookbooks were spawned for practise typing. bin. One of my yellowed Her World cuttings, dated more than a decade. These were November 1961 (when I was just three years old), eagerly snapped up as soon as they rolled off the carries Ellice Handy’s famous Siamese Curry recipe press. to “whet your appetite”, along with recipes for The Straits Times and New Nation as well as Boiled Vegetable and Coconut Milk Sambal, Crab their Sunday editions, are equally to be credited Curry and Dried Curried Chicken (Malayan style). for rolling out thousands of recipes for home cooks Her World was then known for its extensive through the decades. These newspapers brought fame spread of local recipes. One important column to numerous regular contributors, many of whom that carried on for many years in the 1960s was went on to author cookbooks. Besides the doyenne “Malayan Kitchen”. Ellice Handy, they included Joan Frois, Elizabeth Jay, Aloyah Alkaff, Wendy Hutton and Peranakans such as Terry Tan, Tan Lee Leng, Violet Oon, Lee Geok Boi, Margaret Chan and Sylvia Tan.

Iconic Cookbooks Ask any ardent home cook about Peranakan recipes and chances are that she or he would own Photo by Tan Koon Siang Koon Tan Photo by a copy of the iconic Mrs Lee’s Cookbook by Mrs Lee Chin Koon, who was none other than the mother of our founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (see pages 11 and 36). It was first produced in December 1974 and reprinted over a dozen times by popular demand. Hers was probably the first compilation of traditional nyonya recipes in an easy-to-follow style for budding cooks. Another timeless classic first produced in the 1970s, in two thick volumes, is Singaporean Cooking by Mrs Leong Yee Soo, who happened to be the sister of Mrs Lee Chin Koon. Besides Peranakan recipes, her book added household staples from Chinese, Eurasian, Malay and even Indian kitchens. But way before Mrs Lee’s or Mrs Leong’s books My mother, Low appeared, culinary history was Suan Neo, and made when the seminal My Ng Kim (maternal Favourite Recipes was published aunty) Bong from by Ellice Handy in 1952 to raise Malacca cooking lunch at home funds for Methodist Girls’ School during my wedding where she was the principal. Mrs celebration in 1980. Handy pioneered Singaporean

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Iconic titles that are a must-have for every Peranakan cook - Mrs Lee’s Cookbook and Singaporean Cooking.

It is so convenient to buy curry powder from many sources in recipes that were Singapore and Malacca now. Her inexpensive, recipe will be passed down to my nutritious and son, Keith, and daughter-in-law, unpretentious. She Melinda, who makes the world’s was said to be the first best French onion soup. They are to give accurate measures well matched – he does the mains, and timings. Her only such as excellent steaks, and book is a gem prized by she, the starters and dessert, like grandmothers, mothers and raspberry panna cotta. their daughters. Keith learnt much from watching A best seller even now, celebrity chefs who show their Mrs Handy’s colonial-era mettle on food channels on recipes reflect the eating television and clips on google and lifestyles from the 1930s to youtube. These chefs cook from the 1950s: From Duck Pot anywhere around the world and Roast, Date Chutney and are highly entertaining as well. For Savoury Brinjal Sandwiches tasting the actual food, he can pop to Coconut Candy, Pie Tee, into any of the fine restaurants that Curry Devil, Mee Siam, are commonplace in Singapore the Fried Curry Puffs and even global city. Melinda is a hospitality Fish Ball Soup. Many of my management graduate from mother-in-law’s dishes so Adelaide trained in the classroom loved by our family originated kitchen. Married for over a year, the from Mrs Handy’s book. young couple has begun working When Mum Ada was cash- together on Peranakan staples strapped in the 1970s, raising such as babi pong teh (see page 20), a young family, she modified Mrs Handy’s aromatic Female magazine sambal timun and bakwan kepiting. curry powder into her own version and sold them in was renowned for My daughter Olivia, who works its annual series in Brisbane, recently concocted packets. I am sure that like Mum Ada, Mrs Handy’s of cookbooks book has blessed many other people in more ways featuring recipes a mean sambal jantong pisang than one. I know of at least one Peranakan culinary from a plethora of using ingredients available from celebrity who still swears by her recipes such as sources including Chinatown and the Vietnamese Hainanese babi panggang (spiced roast pork). home cooks, markets. She posted an image restaurants and of the dish (see page22) on one of hotels. The Next Generation our Peranakan food chat groups I have not found any need to replicate Mum on facebook, earning much praise from aunties and Ada’s curry powder with my trusty Sumeet grinder. uncles there. As a nyonya mother, I am gratified.

35 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 dalam dapor a much-loved legacy Even the most experienced nyonya cooks swear by Mrs Lee’s Cookbook. The late Mrs Lee Chin Koon (Chua Jim Neo) authored this Peranakan classic in 1974 when she was already 67 years old. She had a mission to pass on to “the younger people in Singapore” recipes that were handed down for several generations within her family. We reproduce her recipe for Mee Siam, a favourite dish of her eldest son who was Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Mrs Lee’s Mee Siam (Fried rice noodles served with a spicy coconut gravy) As retested by Mrs Lee’s granddaughter, Shermay Lee.

600g (1 packet) beehoon (rice vermicelli) 600g medium-sized prawns 150g kuchai (chives) 400g (2 pieces) taukua (firm tofu) 10 lemo kasturi (calamansi limes) 160g udang kering (dried prawns) 300 ml oil 8 eggs 570 ml water 600g taugeh (bean sprouts)

Rempah: 300g bawang merah (shallots) 15 red chillies or 60 dried chillies 3 tbsp belachan (shrimp paste) 3 tbsp oil

Gravy: 300g taucheo (salted soy beans) 800 ml santan (coconut milk, using 150g grated coconut and sufficient water) = 1 small pkt Heng Guan Coconut ‘Cream’ (250 g) 1 medium-sized onion 4 tbsp sugar

Preparation If dried chillies are used for the rempah, soak them in hot water. Soak the rice vermicelli (in cold or tap water) for 15 minutes then drain. Add prawns to boiling water then simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Shell, devein then halve prawns lengthwise. (Freeze the shells for use in other recipes). Hardboil the eggs. Remove and allow to cool. Shell then slice into

Copyright of Shermay Lee. Used with permission. Lee. Copyright of Shermay wedges. Cut chives into 2 cm lengths.

36 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 (Discard the light green and white portion, which is about 5 cm from the base). Cut the firm tofu into 3 cm strips and halve a much-loved legacy the limes. Pound/grind the dried prawns until finely minced. Rinse the bean sprouts. Remove roots, leave the caps. Prepare the rempah. Deseed then roughly chop the soaked fresh chillies. Peel and roughly chop the shallots. Pound/blend together with the prawn paste and oil. It should have a creamy orange texture. Prepare the gravy. Lightly pound the salted soybeans, if whole beans are used. Peel and thinly slice the onions. Prepare the coconut milk by soaking the grated coconut in the water for a few minutes and squeezing the pulp dry through a muslin cloth or sieve.

Method In a pot, add salted soybeans, coconut milk, onions and sugar. Place pot over the stove, but leave the flame off. Heat a wok over a high flame until it smokes. Add the oil. Add the tofu then lower the flame. Stir-fry in batches until light golden brown but still soft in the centre. (Avoid overcooking as it will become rubbery). Remove and drain. Leave about 200 ml oil in the wok then stir-fry the rempah. After 5-10 minutes, add the dried prawns and continue frying for 1-2 minutes. Remove 4 tablespoons of the mixture and set it aside in a small serving dish. Serve it on the side for those who want their Mee Siam spicier. Stir-fry the mixture for about 15-20 minutes or more, until it turns a deep golden brown and the oil has separated. Scoop out 5 tablespoons of the rempah and place it in the pot with the gravy ingredients. Over a medium flame, allow the gravy to simmer (uncovered) for about 30 minutes. Once it has thickened slightly, keep it warm over a very low flame. Add 570 ml water to the remaining rempah in the wok. Stir thoroughly and bring to boil. Add the bean sprouts and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the rice vermicelli then lower the flame. Using cooking chopsticks or tongs (to prevent the vermicelli from breaking), turn the rice vermicelli and bean sprouts over in the wok. This helps the riace vermicelli to cook evenly and mixes all the ingredients. Dish the rice vermicelli out onto a large serving plate or onto individual plates. Garnish with the fried tofu, chives and prawns. Arrange the sliced eggs and limes around the edge of the dish. Serve the gravy in a separate bowl. Pour the gravy over the rice vermicelli just before eating.

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Baba Lim Kay Tong reflects on a rewarding acting career in a dialogue with Nyonya Linda Chee. characteristic panache

You have been acting since1974. all gone. I have about a performance. Has being a Peranakan influenced no knowledge of What is important you to become an actor? Baba Malay or any is my own appraisal I’m not conscious of any overt decent knowledge of of what I’ve done, Peranakan influence on my decision Peranakan culture. A what I can improve to become an actor. I would call lot of this stems from on, what was good, my parents - my father was born in my father’s belief what was bad. I’m China and my mother was a seventh that his Chinese only interested in generation Peranakan - modern, roots were a thing getting better and being the first in their families to of the bad old past that will continue for go to university. There were always and that English a lifetime. books, overseas newspapers and was the language of magazines around the house. And the future. Here was What motivates you there was music, my dad being a man who could as an actor? Who is an audiophile. But being modern speak Mandarin your inspiration? meant dispensing with tradition, as well as all the At this time of my which meant I was never infused with dialects. I’m not sure life, what matters either Chinese or Peranakan culture. how my mother felt. is an interesting The closest I got to that is a visual Of course my mother In the 2004 movie Perth, Kay role, and if possible memory of what my grandparents spoke to Mak only Tong’s lead performance as something different wore. My father’s Hokkien parents in the patois and deranged taxi driver Harry from what I have wore flared floodwater pants and with her siblings as Lee won wide acclaim from done before. Rather Chinese tunic tops. My mother’s well. So the patter film critics. than emulate anyone, Peranakan parents couldn’t have was always within the inspiration for a been more different. Grandfather earshot, but never spoken to me. part comes from within - which is a usually wore a white baju tutup There was never pressure to learn strange mix of learnt technique, work outfit and Mak (grandmother) would the Peranakan vernacular. and life experience and imagination. always be in a sarong kebaya. So my Only my wife, Sylvia, has hung DNA is somewhat fused between the onto a few traditions. Every time Which medium do you enjoy most - two. I’m really not sure where my there is a wedding in the younger stage, television or film? inner urge to become an actor came generation, she insists on a tok Television and film have more of from. All I know was I discovered a panjang (‘long table’ feast) during a place for me. Stage, when you’re buzz going on stage which was both the celebrations. The Peranakan young, gets your adrenalin going. But physical and intellectual. Association Singapore is doing a film and television are more intimate. fine job. Perhaps it is the conduit I enjoy the interior work required Do you feel Peranakan and in for passing down the traditions. for the screen. Stage work has to be what aspects? projected, so there’s a barrier to the I feel Peranakan because of How do you feel about receiving character’s inner life. The camera tries my almost total inability to speak acclaim for your performances? to pick up what’s inside a person. Mandarin or Hokkien! Now that must Acclaim is a side issue, because be in the blood. it is only accorded by the eye of the What was it like acting in the beholder. I am critical about what I long-running serial Growing Up Do you think our culture is do, so I take praise very cautiously (1996 -2001)? sustainable? and find criticism more useful for Growing Up was one of the best In my life and family, it’s almost the future. I try to be very objective times I had in my career. Working

38 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 Dubbed as Singapore’s Robert de Niro, character actor Lim Kay Tong has turned in scintillating performances in all three mediums - television, stage and film. He has starred opposite Sean Penn and Pierce Brosnan in his long film career and is a board member of Theatreworks, which he co-founded in 1985. The ex-rugby national is happily married to popular cookbook author, Sylvia Tan. characteristic panache

Above, Kay Tong as our late founding Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, in the famous press conference scene from the SG50 movie, 1965. (Photograph is by courtesy of Blue3 Pictures and mm2 Entertainment).

Left, The Tay family in Above, Kay Tong and Sylvia the award- at their tok panjang wedding winning serial, dinner at home in 1983. Next Growing Up, to them is playwright Michael set in the 1960s Chiang, who first introduced to 1980s. Kay Tong to Sylvia.

regularly day in and day out for six wife could see I was getting frustrated As a founder of TheatreWorks, years taught me much about screen and urged me to strike out full time are you satisfied with how theatre acting and building a character for as an actor. has progressed in Singapore? the medium. If there is another That was the best advice and show The theatre scene has developed worthy series I would not hesitate. of support I could only have dreamt tremendously. However performance I have, post-Growing Up, enjoyed of, but it was real! My marriage and standards vary. I think a proper working on The Pupil. But it only being an actor are all I can ask for. apprenticeship is necessary to get lasted two seasons, even though it Maybe if the acting work dries up, I the basics right. But we are always in picked up a couple of awards at the will return to writing. But then this is a hurry. Aspiring artists want to get Asian Television Awards. someone who loves Samuel Beckett! somewhere fast without dwelling too long on the fundamentals. You were once a journalist in The What advice can you give to We started TheatreWorks to give Sunday Times and New Nation. aspiring local actors? ourselves work and it’s heartening Would you have made a good From my experience as an actor to see so many more practitioners journalist if you were not acting? - work very hard on your audition doing so much more. What is deeply I was a journalist for nearly five piece. Strive to be better than anyone encouraging is that I meet young years and I enjoyed the writing. else going for the part and get the actors who have bravely ventured out Perhaps I was fortunate the press job! Easier said than done and luck and are earning a living from acting in was going through a tough time - does play a part, but you have to the most pragmatic way - doing both the Anson by-election, the rise and make the most of that when it does commercial and artistic work. fall of the Singapore Monitor. My come your way.

39 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 a rt a young painter’s

The Holy Family (150 x 200cm) is painted in acrylic and oil on linen. It was commissioned to be a stunning visual compendium of cultural references: the poh kia ee, the Virgin’s kasot manek, her udang galah tinted sarong kebaya, Joseph’s sarong, a mother-of- pearl chair, the belimbing tree and the potted plants.

40 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 promise Baba Bryan Tan sits down with Alvin Ong to discuss his influences and aspirations as a painter

hen I heard I was to interview Alvin Ong, a prodigious local painter and youngest winner of the UOB Painting of the Year award in 2005 at the age ofW 16, I immediately imagined someone who had been cooped up for too long in a room without showering. Someone who always had smudges of paint pigments on his fingers and clothes. But the person who turned up at my doorstep was quite something else.

As a fellow contemporary aged 27, Alvin is the of his godparents’ house.“This place has a special perfect depiction of the boy next door. Affable and place in my heart, because it holds many memories of unassuming, he smiles seriously as he recounts his family events. It was very organic and eclectic. Antique humble beginnings growing up. furniture and photos sat casually next to their modern “I’m not Peranakan by descent, but I spent a lot of counterparts. For me it is a way in which memories are time with my godparents and their extended family layered on top of one another.” who are Peranakan. I assimilated a lot of aspects of Fast-forward to the present, and Alvin describes a the culture growing up with them,” he recalls. “My recent privately commissioned piece, The Holy Family paintings are a record of social memory, stories that I for a Peranakan home. Looking past the religious think are worth preserving.” subject matter, one discovers the painting to be a One of his earlier sketches featured the living room stunning visual compendium of cultural references: the poh kia ee, the Virgin’s kasot manek, her udang galah tinted sarong kebaya, Joseph’s sarong, a mother-of-pearl chair, the belimbing tree and the potted plants. All of these combine to conjure a world perhaps only familiar to an older generation. Alvin talks about the Bukit Brown cemetery; witnessing its subsequent redevelopment prompted him to interrogate his roots and the price we pay for development. In Search of Tanah Airku is a recent work in which many of these thoughts come together. This work features what seems to be an exhumation amongst a gathering of figures. I probe into its slightly dark and morbid elements and he nods wryly in acknowledgement, “My paintings may seem a bit melancholic and nostalgic, but sometimes I think death and loss isn’t something to be pantang (superstitious) about, because they are part and parcel of life.” When asked about the parallels to Peranakan culture, whether discovering what is past and forgotten is a way to move forward, Alvin wholeheartedly agrees. “Culture and In Search tradition are our anchors of Tanah Airku in a changing world,” he (125 x 180cm). muses. “But at the same Painted in oil on time not static, because of canvas in 2015, it the people who inherit it features what seems to be an exhumation and continue to sustain amongst a gathering it.” Alvin is now reading of figures. fine art in Oxford.

41 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 a rt a love affair with canvas an eye Finger painter Nyonya Adeline Yeo celebrates the beauty of life in the vibrancy of her works. She also paints blindfolded, as Nyonya for detail Linda Chee marvels

eeting Adeline Yeo recently Adeline is quick to declare that for the first time was like her path to success has not been a Mchancing upon a ray of bed of roses. “You need to be very, sunshine in your living room. Her very strong mentally and you need effervescence brims over. She squeals to have friends who support you with giggly delight. And holds your in many ways.” Adeline’s strong arm like an old friend. I cannot help network has been crucial “and I do but smile at her brightness. Her everything myself. My sixth sense, personality dominates her works: intuition, efficiency. And most of exuberant, confident and joyful. all, the presence of a higher being. Adeline’s transition from public Art is spiritual. I am Christian but I relations consultant to full-time understand what fengshui means.” painting was fast-tracked, and Her works have surpassed a rather serendipitous to discovering her unusual benchmark. “Chanel has roots. Her first painting was of a always been my inspiration. She phoenix, as part of a fashion show once said, ‘My passion will challenge that was Peranakan influenced. convention. I told myself that one It became the design motif for a day, my art will be the same, or if not yonya Carolyn Law gown. That was in 2010. The trendy more, than the price of a Chanel suit. never really was in touch fashionista felt a calling to follow her I have achieved that.” Nwith her Peranakan self passion for art. Adeline hopes to “build an until about two years ago. Adeline has not looked back since. empire and a legacy”. Her ambition She says: “I was always Her five solo exhibitions as a finger is to “be globally recognized and surrounded by the culture. But I did not take notice of it until I painter promptly sold out. She often to be a highly valued stock in the recently reconnected with a few paints blindfolded for charity. Her marketplace.” By then, she smiles, family members whom I never works are inspired by themes of love, “every single stroke would have to knew existed. After the start of journeys, dreams, visions and her be measured in its entirety.” my studio ARThaus, I also got to own life. know more people who showed me how colourful Peranakan culture is.” It helped too that when Carolyn was a child she was already exposed to the culture. “I was brought up by my nanny who was a Peranakan. She would make traditional kueh kueh (desserts) during Chinese New Year. She wore the sarong kebaya and cooked traditional Peranakan food. These are memories that will stay with me forever. “When I was older and lived with my parents, family gatherings on my dad’s side were always interesting. They all spoke in a smattering of English, Malay, Hokkien or just simply Baba patois,” says the young and Chandelier (36x36 inches in acrylic on canvas) was earnest painter, who is armed done while blindfolded. Showing her dare, Adeline once with a masters in Fine Art completed a blindfold painting in one minute. majoring in oil painting.

42 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 Baba Colin Chee is an eye impressed with art the adoptee teacher Nyonya Carolyn for detail Law’s latest works as artist The serene florals of Sydney-based artist Gabby Malpas’ paintings barely hint of the storied life she has led as a transracial adoptee, Baba Emeric Lau discovers.

“ he road less travelled” is a work has exploded with “Asian- phrase often used by artists ness”. She terms it Chinoiserie, Tto describe the course of in reference to the romanticised, their lives. For Gabby Malpas, however, Western view of Asia that was that choice was made for her. initially developed for Europeans. Malpas was born in 1966 in Malpas is fascinated by the fusion Auckland, New Zealand. She lived or rather, profusion of Eastern and in the United Kingdom for 14 years Western elements in Peranakan culture. and has been in Sydney since 2003. She first encountered Peranakan Ethnically, she is “100% Chinese” objects in Malaysia, and was also although the revelation that she introduced to Indonesian batiks which wasn’t white, like the rest of her she finds the most beautiful fabrics in adoptive family, occurred fairly late: the world. She purchased a Peranakan “I did not see myself as Asian at all teapot in Penang and it stars in many of Carolyn painted Genesis - a couple until I hit my late teens”. Hers was a her paintings. Cross-cultural elements in Peranakan wedding costumes - “closed adoption”, meaning that there permeate Malpas’ artwork in a manner in oil on canvas on two panels, each were no real avenues for the adoptee that may seem jarring to purists; 48 x 18 inches. Her current series or birth family to contact each other. of artworks on a Peranakan theme quite unwittingly thus, she challenges After a couple of unsuccessful has sold very well. stereotypes. Titled “I Will Not attempts, Malpas was reunited with She would Love You Long Looking at her paintings of her birth mother – also an artist - in love to exhibit in Time”, this vibrant the Peranakan bridal couple 2004. This was the start of a healing Singapore and is setting with nyonyaware and kamchengs, Carolyn muses: process that continues today. keen to see how combined watercolour, “I particularly like extremely Knowing her full ethnic heritage gouache and pencil on an Asian audience Arches paper. detailed work. Peranakan has made a huge difference in her reacts to her work. 57cm x 76cm. ceramics, clothing, fashion artwork and life attitude: Malpas’ accessories and even Peranakan cuisine are replete with minute details and flavours, and are laborious to produce. Peranakan colours are striking yet subtle in their blends.” Her art is remarkable in the very fine details that she has managed to painstakingly document on canvas. In the flowers, the animals, birds and geometric patterns. Carolyn started Arthaus, an art school in June 2011. Her students read like the United Nations: Brazilian, Indian, Japanese, Dutch, German, French, Swiss, Australian and British, amongst others. The youngest is four years old and the oldest, about 65. Carolyn is busy planning for an exhibition in 2016 featuring only contemporary Peranakan works.

43 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 a rt

moving across images Award-winning Sherman Ong extols to Amit Pritam his love for the camera and the themes that motivate his work

hotography, filmmaking and storytelling: momentum through The photograph above is Sherman Ong expertly uses these mediums photographing people. part of Sherman’s Spaces to express and showcase his interest in the “They are more complex series and was shot at the P Basel zoo in Germany as emotionally layered human condition and its surrounding environments. during winter where the Sherman was born in 1971 in Malacca. Growing people compared to animals elephants are brought up as a seventh generation Peranakan, he fondly and nature,” he clarifies indoors to protect them recalls his time in school and how his classmates pensively. from the cold. It was part used to describe him. “They used to call me orang Sherman subsequently of a series of works that developed an interest in won for him the prestigious China, bukan China 2012 ICON de Martell or OCBC because of videography and filming Cordon Bleu Photography my mixed descent moving images. He was Award. and the fact that exposed to world cinema I didn’t speak when he volunteered as an usher at the Singapore Chinese. I found it International Film Festival. “I started to have an strange for a short interest in films and how I could use the power of time but eventually, I moving images to tell my own stories.” just got used to it.” Sherman’s visual style is focused on forming Sherman had narratives based on the themes of origin, migration cultivated an affinity and diaspora. His work, which has been showcased for capturing visuals across the world, touches on the human aspects of through the lens life, death, love, hope and the relationships which after his father people forge owing to their particular environments. presented him with Sherman has travelled the world and honed his his first Kodak craft in artist residences from Hanoi to Fukuoka to camera when he Dar Es Salaam. In 2012, he won the prestigious 2012 was 10 years old. ICON de Martell Cordon Bleu Photography Award “My interest in imagery started when I started taking for outstanding achievement in his field of art. His photographs of my pets including dogs, cats and current showcases include a series of documentary fish. Photographing them was also a way for me to video installations, titled Islands in Between, that can understand them and nature better,” he muses. be viewed at the National Library Building as part of As he grew older, Sherman gained further the Geo|Graphic series.

44 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 bespoke sulam Baba Heath Yeo loves to experiment – his one-of-a-kind kebayas are wearable fantasies. Baba Emeric Lau interviews this dedicated embroiderer.

aba Heath Yeo struggles to qualify motifs, richly shading them into life. Heath wears himself when asked if he is Peranakan. Technically speaking, embroidery his own sulam His paternal grandmother is tionghoa was but one method of garment creation, displaying B his fine handiwork. Peranakan from Indonesia, but his mother is embellishment, alongside beading, Singaporean Chinese, “so I guess I’m half”. His lacework and applique. What made it special was growing-up memories include seeing the sarong his recollection of his late grandmother donning worn often at home, listening to the adults converse her beautifully embroidered (sulam) kebayas and how in patois and inhaling the aromas of nyonya cuisine different the effect was when compared with its use wafting out from the kitchen. on more contemporary fashion. Heath embarked on a journey of sorts – researching books, museums, antique stores and even consulting friends who had vintage kebayas. Sadly, his grandmother’s kebayas had been buried with her. Heath found a teacher in Madam Moi of Kim Seng Kebaya who imparted the art of embroidering kebayas to him. He experiments with designs. His facebook wall sports a photo of supermodel Christy Turlington printed on a kebaya – a commendable attempt to evolve away from traditional expectations. Heath believes that the kebaya form will change. He has a strong affinity for traditional methods, including sulam produced When he was enrolled Above, an on a manually- at St Anthony’s Primary elaborate two- operated Singer sided sulam School, his parents selected (embroidery) sewing machine Malay as his second of goldfish - an for its singular language. But he was auspicious motif uniqueness, but “reunited” with the Chinese - embellished also acknowledges class after his mother gave with kerawang, that industrial- or fine ‘cutwork’ up, as he “cried and cried, embroidery scale machines can wondering why I was singled where holes are embroider kebayas out to learn Malay.” cut out after at a faster pace Heath studied Fashion the embroidery and in ever more Design at Lasalle College work to create a sophisticated designs. lace-like effect. of the Arts. When working “Kebaya sulam as a designer of formal and deserves its place evening wear, he started to White cotton alongside traditional learn embroidery techniques. voile with techniques such as Each design had to be hand- scallop lace Indian embroidery drawn to fit the garment, applied in and hand- and he was charmed by the layers for a embroidered Chinese wave effect. simplicity of how needle and silk – above all, it is thread could render various unique to us.”

45 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 books SARONG KEBAYA: Peranakan Fashion in an Intercon Baba Colin Chee explores the hybrid world of the nyonyas as told by BABA peter Lee

can only describe Peter illustrated books about the sarong Chia’s book The Babas on Page Lee’s tome as monumental. kebaya to date. 50). Instead, will it simply evolve IMonumental in its singular, like a resilient social organism passionate pursuit of the sarong Sarong Kebaya, a Dying through its assimilations with kebaya. Monumental in its Community or What? other cultures, as it did in the research. Monumental in the rarity The book is one man’s private past, into something different yet and subject of its illustrations. journey to discover the origins of the same because it has retained Monumental in its 352 story-telling his Peranakan community. The parts of its cultural uniqueness pages in a weighty volume. And a journey may have started with a and peculiarities? monumental nine years to write simple search for the story behind Only time will tell. and produce. this once iconic attire for the In the meantime, simply enjoy For the past five years, the Peranakan nyonya in Southeast this well-written if scholastic book. editorial team of The Peranakan Asia – the sarong kebaya. As a reader aptly describes, magazine had asked the author But his intellectual curiosity “the book itself is a heroic each time they met at his Bukit and “dissatisfaction with the endeavour with a lot of references Timah family home, “Are you histories of the Peranakan world, for the scholastically minded to finished with the book yet, Peter?” and by the way the Peranakan follow up. Not every theory put up community will meet with agreement but any describes itself” – critic will have to plough through like Peranakan jati the references to nit pick with or pure Peranakan any credibility.” - sparked a search that extended the What is in a Name? initial study of the Indeed, as the author will have sarong kebaya into it, a name is nothing to fuss about. an evolved history Peter writes, “As words travel of the Peranakan and mutate between cultures, as community from the they have over centuries across 16th century to 1950. the Indian Ocean, they leave And what is Peter’s significant trails.” conclusion from this Except that they do have search? “complicated histories.” Words He challenges, like baju, kebaya and sarong, “Can any community which describe a nyonya’s dress ever be characterized in Baba Malay, are actually the as having a fixed set results of the “circulation and of characteristics? shifting semantics mirroring the When did social cosmopolitan and cross-cultural history become conditions that created the A Eurasian a branch of Peranakan sarong kebaya.” His coy reply would be, “Not yet. family, Java, ca biology?” He discovered that Malay and There’s so much to do.” The next 1920s. Gelatin If this is true, Portuguese were the dominant silver print. thing we knew he would be away then perhaps there languages in the Indian Ocean in in the Netherlands, Portugal, India, is hope yet for the Peranakan the early centuries. They facilitated Malaysia or Indonesia in feverish community. the spread of ideas and words. pursuit of some fabled holy grail. It will not simply die away as Malay, as a trading language, It has been a worthwhile long its DNA gets diluted through was spoken in the Cape of Good wait for those in the know. The marriages with the larger Hope, western India and along the book is easily one of the best, community, as many Peranakan Chinese coast. As for Portuguese, if not the best, researched and elders fear (see review of Mr Felix the language of invaders during

46 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 Peranakan Fashion in an Intercon nected World Baba Colin Chee explores the hybrid world of the nyonyas as told by BABA peter Lee

the sixteenth century, variants of it continue to be spoken as Papia Kristang in Melaka. Along with the spread of these languages, sartorial fashions and references of the time gained geographical traction. Allow me to condense the histories of the three Peranakan fashion words in Peter’s book. Baju - which today refers to clothing in general – was once used to describe tailored garments for the torso or upper body. The word has references in Persian, Portuguese, Indian, Sri Lankan, Chinese and Malay texts. Because the word baju also appears in the oldest Malay word list found in an early 16th century Chinese text in which various types of attire have clear Arabic and Persian origins, it is assumed the word baju has the same Arabic and Persian roots. The word kebaya, however, seems to have a less complicated story. Today it describes the a few Malay words that has spread short lace trimmed variant of into the vocabulary of other world the top once worn by Dutch languages. It originally referred women in Indonesia, and Malay to any kind of sheath or covering, and Peranakan women in the such as sarong bantal (pillow cover) late 19th century. They are still or sarong kris (kris scabbard). worn in a variety of styles and Unlike the kebaya which appeared materials. The word was existent in European colonial records during Dutch colonial times and much earlier, sarong is found in it was probably derived from the Dutch records of the 18th century Portuguese colonial word “cabaye” in Batavia or today’s Jakarta. which was used to describe a coat. These days, sarong refers to the Indeed, the Portuguese creole ubiquitous wrap around or body that was spoken in Sri Lanka dress for the quintessential Malay soon saw “cabaye” transliterated and Peranakan woman. into “kebaya” Indeed, the sarong kebaya first Instructions in Sinhalese, came into its own as a symbol of accompanying a tracing with both words tropical colonial life during the paper pattern referring to coat. Dutch rule of the East Indies. But for kebaya Then the Dutch it is not unique to any particular embroidery, came east and community. It is a marvelous issued by Clarke kebaya became result of hybridity as cultural and Company of Paisley, what it is today. currents criss-crossed one another Scotland, 1950s. Sarong is one of over time. Peter aptly quoted art

47 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 books

Sarong kebayas dating back to the 1930s-40s. The kebayas were tailored in Indonesia. The sarongs were painted by renowned batik artists from Kedungwuni and Pekalongan. From the Peranakan Museum. Photographed by Chris Yap Chris Photographed by

48 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 therefore myths have held sway in the popular imagination. For example, one of the quasi-historical narratives about the origins of the royal family in Malacca, as recorded in the Malay Annals, perhaps written around 1612, has been appropriated to explain the origins of the Peranakan Chinese. Hang Liu, an imperial Chinese princess, was said to have arrived in Malacca with a retinue of five hundred young men and women, who converted to Islam en masse… She herself married the sultan. This union is not corroborated by Ming histories…” Peter carries on: “Exactly how Peranakans have “mixed blood” has been imperfectly understood. That native-born Chinese women historian Finbarr Barry Flood Above, Chua Wan Neo were a rarity who described the phenomenon (seated centre), widow of outside China as the result of “people and things the pioneer rubber planter Tan Chay Yan, with her until the late having been mixed up for a very children and their spouses. 19th century is long time”. Toyo Studio, Singapore, well established. Like an intricate batik design 1931. Gelatin silver print. Therefore the with its minutae of whorls and curls. Collection of Sharron Chee Guek Kee. wives of the The Nyonya pioneering Right, Li Lihua, legend of Chinese migrants “An understanding of the Shanghai and Hongkong to the Malay development of Peranakan fashion cinema, in the Chinese Archipelago must is impossible without first gaining filmNyonya and Baba, have belonged clarity on certain critical issues Cathay, 1956. The sarong and kebaya had been to other ethnic about the Peranakans that have, strategically fitted to groups.” to date, remained nebulous, even accentuate her figure. Peter went on to within the Peranakan community. quote travelogues, At the centre of these is the By asking these questions at books, references, studies of the identity of the Peranakan woman. the start of the chapter on Slave day to show that in days of old Who is the nyonya? When and how Girls and Heiresses; Mothers of All our Chinese pioneers married did she come about?” Peranakans, the author bravely gave slave girls and local women from his answer. the archipelago including Bali, He starts by Celebes, Sulawesi, Java, Sumatra, controversially and Guinea. From these pragmatic demolishing a beginnings, he builds the case long-held and for a community that started to much-loved look inward but grew in wealth, belief: sophistication and social status, in “Indeed the the milieu of growing urbanization very origins of and colonial exploitation of the the Peranakan region’s natural wealth, fast community are adapting to changes and even imprecisely transforming itself to ever changing perceived, and social and economic environs.

“Citizen living in Sarong Kebaya is published by the Batavia, with his Asian Civilisation Museum. Available wife”, 1670s. Georg at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Franz Muller. thePeranakan Museum and Select Books. Watercolour on paper.

49 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 books the babas live on Baba Colin Chee examines the reprint of a classic title by BABA Felix Chia

his is the third print of Peranakan life as it was lived the late Felix Chia’s book, in Singapore and Malacca TThe Babas, which was during the late pre-war and highly sought after when it was early post-independence first printed in 1980. A reprint was years. He takes the reader made in 1993, titled The Babas breezily through most Revisited, where the author revised aspects of life then. substantial parts of his original Many years from now text. The revisions accommodated this single book will serve feedback on his first book, provided as a basic reference or clarifications and expositions on record of what is and how lines of thought and opinions the Peranakan community taken, and expanded on material evolved, flourished and in the original text that he thought declined. More importantly, was necessary. it was written by one who Said a feisty Mr Chia in the lived that life. Mr Chia wrote Introduction to his 1993 reprint: with a passionate interest in “To retain the essence and charm the community. that the mega-hit TV series The of the previous edition, I have In Mr Chia’s last chapter on The Little Nyonya had on kick-starting chosen only the most interesting of Future, he unabashedly predicted interest in the culture outside this the old text and improved it with the community’s eventual dwindling community. Nor did the addition of new information…. extinction in Singapore. In 1993, he foresee the establishment of Upon recollecting the opinions and he may have been pessimistically Singapore’s Peranakan Museum criticisms of my books recently, prescient: and privately-owned Peranakan I realized that it would not be a “What of the present-day museums that have sprouted up in bad idea if I were to conduct an Babas? There is no future for them the region. Or the subtle influence ‘autopsy’ on them and spearhead as a community, for they are fast of The Peranakan magazine inside further discussion.” disappearing with each generation. and outside the community. Mr Chia’s book provides a fairly The Babas who marry Nyonyas today He also did not live to see comprehensive and rare glimpse of do so more out of love than for the the formation of a federation of propagation of Babas and Peranakan associations in Southeast Nyonyas….A minority race Asia and as far away as Australia. which keeps dwindling Neither could he have anticipated cannot hope to survive. The the success of commercial sad fate of this dwindling enterprises such as Main Wayang race is perpetuated by the in mass-popularizing the culture in ignorance of Baba culture schools and the corporate world. among the young….The lot In an innocuous way, the success of the Singapore Baba now of social media, particularly is to be assimilated by those facebook communities such as around them; to continue The Peranakan (Nyonya and Baba) in their inherent nature of Clan, Perot Rumah – Peranakan Food integrating into different Culture, and Peranakan Material cultures, as their forebears Culture, has brought the community had so wisely done.” across the world a lot closer to their Unfortunately, Mr Chia cultural roots and to each other. didn’t have the benefit of The late Mr Felix Chia, I am sure, experiencing the impact would breathe a sigh of relief – for this extension. Baba Felix Chia’s paternal grandfather, Baba Chia Hood Sang, and his The Babas is co-published by the Estate daughters – Choo Neo ‘Lau of Felix Chia and Landmark Books. Cute’ and Poh Neo.

50 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 theatre

the LKY musical. not to be missed. The love story of lee kuan yeW and kwa geok choo

he Marina Bay Sands’ writer Meira Chand. MasterCard Theatres will Playing the key roles are local actors Thost its first local musical Adrian Pang as Lee Kuan Yew; Sharon from 21 July this year for a limited Au in the coveted role of Mrs Lee; season only. Sebastian Tan as rickshaw puller Koh The LKY Musical by Metropolitan Teong Koo who saved Mr Lee’s life Productions has been three years in during the Japanese Occupation; and the making. It tells the love story of Benjamin Chow in his debut as activist our late founding Prime Minister Lee Lim Chin Siong. Kuan Yew and his late wife Kwa Geok At the musical’s introduction to the Choo. It also cleverly weaves in the media on 13 April, Dick said he was at socio-political drama of Singapore’s first unsure how to pitch his music. It early independence years. could not be just like his usual musicals. Baba Dick Lee composed the He told The Peranakan: “Working with music, with London-based Laurence such a serious subject matter, I had to Olivier Award winner Stephen approach the writing carefully. Music is Clark providing the lyrics. Veteran used to convey emotions and situations. London director Steven Dexter, who This story had plenty of that, so it was last directed Forbidden City: Portrait wonderful to craft a dramatic score of an Empress, has where I could write from my heart Baba Dick says returned to direct without too many considerations of the music for this musical. The commercialism.” the multi-million creative team Sebastian Tan said in jest at the dollar production media conference that he would look is his “best score includes playwright to date.” Tony Petito and like a well-fed rickshaw puller. come discover the hidden truth GSA’s new play promises a revelation

or their annual Wayang do all she can Peranakan and to mark its to marry Daisy F105th anniversary, Gunong into the wealthy Sayang Association (GSA) is Lim family presenting a new work written by with the help of Alvin Teo. Udang Sebalik Batu – The matchmaker Bibik Hidden Truth promises an evening Taik Lalat. How that will tug at the heartstrings does she cause even as it delivers a potpourri of the split? Did amusing gags. Daisy really marry The plot centres around young into the lovers Daisy Tan and Jeff Koh, who Lim family? Who have known each other since they exactly knows were children. Jeff was brought up The Hidden Truth? by his single mother, Lian Neo, who You’ll have to go watch to find out! and Matthew Chen. Watch the slogged all her life so her son could The wayang is directed by Tony It is performed in intrigue to have a bright future. Eventually, Quek. The cast includes Audrey Tan Peranakan patois with split young Jeff secures a scholarship to study as Daisy, Eugene Tay as Jeff and a English subtitles. lovers. in England and has to be separated host of other experienced actors There are just three shows at from Daisy. Daisy’s stepmother, including Lee Yong Ming, Jessie the Drama Centre from 30 – 31 Bibik Guek Neo, plots to split the Cheang, Christina Wee, KT, Cynthia October so book your seats early. young couple due to their class Lee, Jeannette Chan, Frederick Tickets are available at all SISTIC difference and is determined to Soh, Alvin Teo, Ameline Goh outlets from August 2015.

51 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 e vents the thrill of conventions KL association president Baba Cedric Tan is enthused by the jakarta convention

hen Aspertina performances by the participating visited north From left to right, (Association of Peranakan associations and Jakarta for a The Peranakan- Peranakan Tionghoa closed with delegates dancing the whirlwind tour inspired fashion W show at the gala night away. Indonesia) was announced as of the old city night. the Jakarta host for the 27th The opening ceremony the and port. After next day at the host hotel, Grand the convention The Wayang Baba Nyonya Convention 2014, Potehi dolls on I was eager to sign up. Having Sahid Jaya, was followed by ended, some display. attended almost 20 conventions, simple-to-digest introductions delegates into the heritage of the local Javanese-style I can conclude with confidence headed to Chinese-icons in that inaugural events are usually Peranakans. Bapak Joseph ‘Aji’ Tangerang wayang kulit. remarkable. Chen Bromokusumo whetted where the First of all, it is proof that the our appetites in his talk on Persaudaraan Peranakan Tionghoa Peranakan community is truly Peranakan cuisine while Bapak Warga Indonesia (Pertiwi) had diasporic and diverse. Secondly, Hartono Sumarsono enthralled prepared a three-day programme the new host is likely to spare us with a visual feast of his vast covering historic Benteng, Bogor no expense to create an excellent batik collection. Prof Abdullah and Ciputat. In Benteng, I saw first impression. Personally, it Dahana covered the history of rare batik masterpieces by doyen was the first time for me leading Peranakan culture in Indonesia. Oey Soen Tjoen in the Heritage delegates from Kuala Lumpur During the break, delegates Museum. At Roemah Boeroeng we and Selangor as President of the shopped at the bazaar and left were feted with an astounding 111 PPBNKLS (Persatuan Peranakan satiated with bags of batik, types of local appetizers, mains, Baba Nyonya Kuala Lumpur & kebayas, books and handicraft. desserts and fruits. I recalled Selangor). Aspertina staged a spectacular familiar dishes like masak chin, On Friday, 28 November, we fashion show. Renowned masak sio and masak buah keluak. arrived in Jakarta and proceeded Indonesian fashion designers My experiences in Indonesia to dinner. The highlight was were roped in to share their have reaffirmed my commitment the traditional Wayang Potehi or Peranakan-inspired creations, to attend future conventions. I puppet show featuring the story such as Samuel Wattimena, love the thrill of stepping into of Seet Jin Kwee performed by Poppy Dharsono, Itang Yunasz, an unexplored room without any young and upcoming masters Geraldus Sugeng, Afif Syakur and inkling of what I will find within, of the trade, and to live music. Hendy Wijaya. and the ‘wow’ moment when The evening continued with On the third and final day, we something awesome sweeps by.

52 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 e vents

fact octogenarians! Topics range virtually peranakan from food to antiques to customs Baba Norman Cho experiences the effectiveness of social and practices. media for…well, socialising! Earlier last year, someone posted an online review of the “ hy don’t you start a facebook group was conceived top 10 Peranakan restaurants in Facebook Group on in 2012. Singapore. This prompted our Peranakan material To my astonishment, there are group to organise a food outing. W Our first meeting was at the culture?” a friend who knew my over 2,000 members registered passion for Peranakan artefacts in my virtual group today. I have Candlenut restaurant on 4 October cajoled me. With my experience discarded the notion of bibiks 2014. Already acquainted virtually, and knowledge from almost 30 behind the kuali with ladles it was effortless to warm up to one years of collecting Peranakan in hand; instead, the bibiks of another’s company. There were 20 antiques, she thought I deserved today are more often found of us in all. a wider audience! This was how surfing facebook on their mobile We have had three other outings the Peranakan Material Culture phones. A few members are in since: To the Peranakan Museum followed by dinner at True Blue Cuisine next door on 15 November; the Eurasian Association on 7 February where I gave a talk on Peranakan jewellery, followed by dinner at Quentin’s; and the latest on 18 April at Rumah Kim Choo where 30 members – including one from Malacca and two from Kuala Lumpur - learnt how to play cherki. The Peranakans’ penchant for parties and good food has never been a secret. We can look forward to more socialising and Learning to camaraderie through play cherki social media! at Rumah Kim Choo. christmas joy at chingay spectacular peacehaven

n 19 December 2014, The OPeranakan Voices (TPVs) brought Christmas joy to over 400 residents and their families at the Salvation Army Peacehaven Nursing Home for elderly patients. To witness joy in the faces of those hingay 2015 in Singapore’s jubilee year was in need of care was a the grandest parade ever organized! The Main truly meaningful way CWayang Company and the Eurasian Association to end 2014, offering a combined with the Vintage/Classic Cars Enthusiasts Group to present an enthralling spectacle on 27 and 28 timely reminder for us February. Over 100 babas and nyonyas young and old to cherish and celebrate dressed in traditional costumes took to the streets to precious moments with showcase the Peranakan culture. This mega multi-cultural our loved ones. event involved 11,000 performers.

53 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 noticeboard

The Federation of Peranakan Associations

SINGAPORE PENANG INDONESIA The Peranakan Association State Chinese (Penang) Association Association of Peranakan Tionghoa Singapore (TPAS) / Persatuan Peranakan Cina Pulau Indonesia (Aspertina) Raffles City PO Box 1640, Pinaang Hero Building II Suite 902, Singapore 911755 13, Perak Road Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto 177A Contact: Peter Wee, President President: Datuk Tan Gin Soon Kav. 64 Jakarta 12870, Indonesia Email: [email protected] Contact: 604-2269560 Contact: Chairman Mr Andrew Susanto Tel: 65 6345 8544 Email: [email protected] Tel +6221 8317751 Website: peranakan.org.sg Fax +6221 8317731 Email: [email protected] KUALA LUMPUR & SELANGOR Gunong Sayang Association (GSA) Website: aspertina.org 50 Lorong 24A, Geylang Road, Persatuan Peranakan Baba Singapore 398574 Nyonya Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Peranakan Tionghoa Warga Indonesia Email: [email protected] (PPBNKLS) (Pertiwi) Fax: 65 6441 1569 Address: PO Box 3151, Pusat Serahan Yayasan PERTIWI c/o KING’S EEC Website: gunongsayang.com Subang Jaya, 47509 Subang Jaya, Jalan Baharudin No. 8 Selangor, Malaysia. Tangerang 15111 Association of Chetti Melaka Contact: Nyonya Nancy Peng, Hon. Banten – Indonesia (Peranakan Indians) Singapore Secretary Contact: Mr Udaya Halim, President 5001 Beach Road #08-09 Email: [email protected] Tel: +62215523880/ +62215526748 Golden Mile Complex Tel No: +6012-3151451 Email: [email protected] / info@ Singapore 199588 Website: http://www.peranakan-kl.org/ bentengheritage.com Contact: Mr Pono Kalastree Facebook page: PPBNKLS Office: 6297 1229 To contact President, Baba Cedric Tan AUSTRALIA Mobile: 9678 1767 please email [email protected] MELBOURNE Peranakan Association MALAYSIA THAILAND Australia Inc MALACCA Thai Peranakan Association P.O. Box 1278, Hawksburn, Victoria, Persatuan Peranakan Cina Melaka 61 Satul Road, Muang District, Phuket Australia 3142 (PPCM) 83000, Thailand Contacts: Joseph Then, Secretary, at 149, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock Contacts: Dr Kosol Taenguthai at email [email protected] (Heeren Street), 75200 Melaka Website: www.peranakan.org.au. Contact: Ms Chin Siok Hoon, PJK email: [email protected]; (Hon Secretary) Ajan Pranee Sakulpipatana at email: [email protected], mobile: +66 SYDNEY Email: [email protected] Peranakan Association Australia 81 693 3576; or Piyarat Kulvanich at Website: www.ppcm-melaka.org (PAA) NSW Inc email: [email protected] or Tel: 012 6218 909 P O Box 3810, Marsfield, Fax: 06 2837 215 mobile: +66 81 719 0967. NSW 2122 Australia To contact the President, Datuk Phua Fax: +66 76 258179 Contact: Evelyn Tan, President Jin Hock, please email phuajh@ Tel: +66 76 258124 Website: peranakanaustralia.org gmail.com. Website: Thaiperanakan.com Email: [email protected]

welcome durians galore!

A warm welcome to The association is organising a day trip to Johore for members to our new members! feast on durians. Eat to your heart’s content! All meals are included. You will also visit a mushroom farm and a 1. Melissa Chan Bee Cheng noodle factory and still have time for shopping. 2. Grace Katherine Kiong Date : 27 June 2015 (Saturday) Min Li Time : 7.00 am 3. Carolyn Law Yu Lin Pick-up point : Newton car park 4. Radiance Lee Kim Hong Meals provided : Nasi lemak breakfast / Foochow noodle & fishball 5. Wong Hon Seng lunch / seafood dinner Cost : S$80.00 (inclusive of travel insurance and guide/ driver tips) Please email [email protected] to register.

54 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 chakap habis grand aunty makes an entrance Baba Bryan Tan joins the Yeows for a night of dinner and gossip

olly was not the kind to be easily frazzled. Despite spending her days Mjuggling cleaning, gardening, cooking and berating her reticent husband, nothing could interrupt her regimented schedule which she could not vary. It was 1985; she was in her prime and dressed to the hilt. She turned from the window and glared at Willie, who had managed to rumple his baju lokchuan and sat woolgathering on the sofa. “Willie! Toksa dudok lagi (don’t sit around anymore), come and stand here!” she hissed. At that moment, three loud raps came from the door. Smoothing down her kebaya, Molly pulled open the door with a beatific smile on her face. “Kohpoh Chik, sua datang (you’re here)! Please come in!” As a daughter born of a mistress, Molly felt an unconscious need to present a faultless image to a member of the main family. Grand aunty had never looked upon her favorably, and had only grudgingly accepted her invitation to dinner. “Bok Neo, how long has it been? Your kebaya chantek (pretty) lah, I must say,” she eyed Molly up and down. Soh Bee Neo was tall and willowy at 74 years. Her eyes however, had the glint of frosted steel in them, and glanced around imperiously for any signs of shabbiness. “Oowa, kinajeet lu pasang kuat eh (you’re all dressed up), Willie?” She nodded coldly at Molly’s Tapi baik lah husband, her permed silver curls bobbing, subtly “ (but it’s good), Singapore is a better rolling her eyes at his creased baju. She stepped into place to live in. Jimmy is being posted to Germany; the house. “Thiam Hin, take off your shoes and masok I think he is to be promoted soon,” said Bee Neo ah (enter),” she clucked sharply. Grand aunty’s husband smugly. “You know , my poor Sophie is the only laki kawan was also very tall. He greeted Molly and Willie jovially. one who won’t leave me. Do you know any

“Grand uncle, how are you?” Molly enquired (male friends) who wants to marry?” Sophie had ayam buah keluak kebaya pleasantly. “Ko ko (older brother) Jimmy, long managed to get on her and kuah time no see! Cousin Florence and Sophie, you was sucking the (gravy) off her fingers. lah kawen must be hungry.” “It’s ok dear, Sophie will (marry) Grand aunty’s children were just like her in image eventually,” grand uncle interjected peevishly. and mannerism, but for one. Sophie was an oddity. Grand aunty was delighted with the food, and a Her hair was slightly tangled, her nails looked chewed glass of wine kept her spirits up. Even Sophie, who on and she refused eye contact with everyone. was usually sullen, ate voraciously and thanked Molly. They gathered around the dining table to admire A phone chimed from somewhere in the house. the feast Molly had prepared. Molly excused herself from the dining table and “Bok Neo, baik (good) lah, you remember gua suka disappeared into a room. An abrupt moment later, a makan hati babi bungkus” (I like to eat wrapped pig’s shriek came piercing through. Everyone stood up. Aiyee kusmangat. Dia nampat hantu ah liver). She observed approvingly, her tone softening. “ (goodness, Molly bowed her head demurely. did she see a ghost)?” Grand aunty Bee Neo wondered Grand aunty took her place at the head of the out loud. Molly came out looking as pale as death. table. “So how are your children? I heard Vera went to “Vera… Vera is pregnant!” *In the next episode, Molly Yeow makes a trip down Singapore to kerja (work). to Singapore! “Betul Kohpoh Chik (that’s right), she charek (looking for) a good job and a good man. But sad for me lah, All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. all my anak-anak (children) leaving me one by one to Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is go overseas,” Molly sighed. purely coincidental.

55 | ISSUE 1 • 2015 directory

THE PERANAKAN GUIDE • SINGAPORE MUSEUMS the Wee family (whose Katong and Joo Chiat. Once the nerve Peranakan Museum. See the world’s ancestor Wee Bin was centre of Peranakan life in Singapore. first national Peranakan Museum a mid-19th century In its heyday it was the site of nearby with the most shipping magnate) grand seaside villas and elaborate comprehensive and since 1910. 157 Neil Peranakan terraced houses. The latter finest collection of Road, Singapore. Tel: can still be seen in a walk along Koon Peranakan artefacts. 62275731. Visits are by Seng Road. Also visit Peranakan shops The boutique guided tours. Please call such as Katong Antique House (208 East museum examines the house for details. Coast Road) and Rumah Bebe (113 East the centres of http://www.nus.edu.sg/ Coast Road) as well as the great variety Peranakan culture in museum/baba/index.html of Peranakan Malacca, Penang and restaurants in the Singapore, and traces its links to as far Asian Civilisations Museum. The first neighbourhood. as Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand. museum in the region to display a wide http://www. 39 Armenian Street, Singapore 179941. range of artefacts from across Asia, visitsingapore. website:www.peranakanmuseum.sg the ACM not surprisingly has some com/publish/ Email: [email protected] important Peranakan treasures. The stbportal/en/ Tel: 6332 7591. Mary and Philbert Chin Gallery has home/what_to_see/suburban_living/ some lavish examples of gold jewellery, katong.html. Great Peranakans: Fifty Remarkable sireh boxes and other paraphernalia, Also http://www.myjoochiat.com. Lives some encrusted with diamonds, and fine 23 May 2015 to 31 March 2016, batik textiles from the north coast of Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street. Peranakan Museum. Java, all made for the Peranakan market. One of the first Peranakan enclaves, This exhibition 1 Empress Place, Singapore 179555, now occupied by restaurants and offices. celebrates the Tel: 6332 2982, Opening Hours: 9am to Many Peranakans from Malacca moved achievements of 50 7pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays), 1pm to to this area as soon as the East India Peranakans such as 7pm (Mondays), Admission $8 (adults), Company began to lease out land for Tan Tock Seng, Lim $4 (senior citizens and students). sale. Boon Keng, and http://www.acm.org.sg Goh Keng Swee. Thian Hock Keng. The oldest Hokkien Merchants, statesmen, Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall temple in Singapore was founded in philanthropists, and The old Sun Yat Sen Villa reopened in 1821 although the present structure, writers – they have October 2011 after extensive renovations built without nails, was completed shaped Singaporean with a new name. Fitting tribute is only in 1841. The temple is dedicated life in significant ways over the past given to the former owners of the to Mazu, the Daoist goddess of the sea two centuries. Moreover, they have house, especially Teo Eng Hock, a son and protector of all seamen. Many of connected Singapore with the region. of Teo Lee, one of the pioneer Teochew the temple’s Peranakans have also been involved merchants in Singapore, together with patrons were in some of the most controversial his nephew Lim Nee Soon, were among Peranakan chapters in our history, from the loyal supporters of Sun Yat Sen’s pioneers, opium dealing and secret societies, bid to overthrow such as Tan to the political struggles around the Qing Tock Seng, independence. Their stories and the government. The who donated almost 200 objects from their lives exhibition shows $30,000 for renovations. He also will help visitors understand the how Singapore, founded the hospital named after him. evolving identities not just of the and the Chinese The Hokkien Huay Kuan, a community Peranakans but also of Singapore as community here organisation for Hokkien people in a whole. played an important part in this pivotal Singapore was housed at the temple moment of world history. Intimate and also helmed by Peranakan pioneers. National Museum of Singapore. The photos of family life, and of Teo Eng Thian Hock Keng, 158 Telok Ayer Street, museum’s Singapore History Gallery Hock’s nyonya mother, Mrs Teo Lee Tel: 6423 4616. pays tribute to the contributions of the née Tan Poh Neo (granddaughter of the pioneering Peranakans. On view are kapitan of Muntok), add charm and a Tan Si Chong Su. Built in 1878, Tan Si some outstanding artefacts, including Peranakan angle to the experience. 12 Chong Su is the ancestral temple of the the oil portrait of Lim Boon Keng, Tai Gin Road, Singapore 327874, Tel: Tan clan, and was founded by prominent old photographs, jewellery and sireh 6256 7377, Opening Hours: 10am-5pm Baba philanthropists Tan Kim Ching, sets, as well as the magnificent carved daily. son of Tan Tock Seng, and Tan Beng wood hearse of Tan Jiak Kim, which Website: wanqingyuan.org.sg. Swee, the son of Tan Kim Seng. The is considered one of the 11 Treasures first president of of the National Museum. National LANDMARKS the temple, Tan Museum of Singapore, 93 Stamford Blair Plain. A typical Peranakan Kim Tian, was Road, Tel: 63323659, Opening Hours: residential area around Spottiswoode a well-known 10am to 6pm Daily (Singapore History Park, Blair Road and Neil Road which Baba shipping Gallery), 10am to 9pm Daily (Singapore is worth a stroll. Visit Guan Antiques tycoon. The Living Galleries), Admission $10 nearby at Kampong Bahru Road, a temple consists of shrines for the (adults), $5 (senior citizens above 60), $5 treasure trove of Peranakan heirlooms. ancestral tablets of Tan clansmen, as (students, Nsmen), Free admission to the http://www.arch.nus.edu.sg/SOA/ well as altars to the clan deities. The Singapore Living Galleries from 6pm to design_studio/dds2b/blair/study/Blair. elaborate stone and wood carvings as 9pm. http://nationalmuseum.sg. html. well as the swooping ceramic roof finials makes this one of the most elaborate Baba House. This heritage house goes Emerald Hill Road. Another interesting Chinese temples in Singapore, quaintly back in time to 1928. Experience what a residential district showcasing the located amid the gleaming towers of the grand Peranakan terraced house would best of eclectic Peranakan residential financial district. Tan Si Chong Su, 15 have been like. Formerly owned by architecture, just off Orchard Road. Magazine Road.

56 | ISSUE 1 • 2015