PERANAKAN a Colourful Culture PERANAKAN a Colourful Culture
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ASEAN HERITAGE TRAIL PERANAKAN A Colourful Culture PERANAKAN A Colourful Culture Map Attractions not to be Missed Museums and Cultural Attractions Gastronomy Delights All About Craft, Design and Textile Living Arts Highlights ASEAN HERITAGE TRAIL Peranakan, A Colourful Culture Peranakan Heritage Trail, A colourful cultre the story of a blended Southeast Asian heritage Peranakan people developed a peculiar cultre partcularly reflected in More than any other cultres in Southeast Asia, the Peranakan heritage fully objects of the daily life, ornaments and fashion with their bright colours. embodies the essence of the region. Shades of green, trquoise mix with bright pink or yellow colours mixed with Why is it so? Peranakan is a blend of many various Asian cultres living in the strings of gold. region who managed to create a unique way of life. The word “Peranakan” Ceramics reflect the fascinaton for bright colours. All shades are available is derived from the Malay meaning ‘the children of’ or the ‘descendants of’ on dish wares such as tea pots, bowls or kamcheng (containers) but special (Anak means a child in both Malay and Indonesian languages). menton is to be given to tles used on external houses’ facades with their More precisely it describes mostly Chinese immigrants from Southern delicate shades and motves inspired by Brish Art Nouveau. China who setled originally along the Andaman coast of the Malay As does fashion, which mixes elements from Indonesian or Malay cultres Peninsula, expanding then to Siam coastal towns. They also sail to the such as flower-decorated batk assorted to lace or silk blouses for women Islands of Sumatra and Java. They generally married to local people. ofen enhanced with embroideries. Tradional wedding tends to disappear These communies adopted local customs but mixed them with their own due to the very sophistcated -and expensive- costmes and ceremony. Chinese tradion. Peranakan communies were born. However, it is easy these days to find jewels-kerosang (a set of brooches Originally setling in Penang, Melaka, Singapore and the Javanese Coast, to ornate blouses), earrings, brooches, hairpins and belts. Many shops and Peranakan traders then move to the North looking at the developing of tn young designers recreate these days Peranakan objects while there are stll in Phuket, Phang-Nga and Songkhla provinces in Southern Siam as well opportnies to find second hand jewels or objects in antque shops. as to Sumatra Island, mostly around Medan, Padang and Sumatra South. Peranakan expresses itself also in the cooking with dishes blending By extension, Peranakan designate strongly integrated communies of traditional Malay, Indonesian and Thai meals with a Chinese touch. mixed Chinese with local people. This is why Peranakan communies can In Singapore, Penang, Melaka and Phuket, there are increasingly schools also be tracked in the Philippines as well as on Borneo Island or in Sulawesi teaching tourists ways to cook fragrant Peranakan dishes while many in Indonesia. restaurants are geting specialized in Nyonya cuisine. Peranakan people are ofen referred in Malaysia and Singapore as Straits Museums or art galleries in Phuket, Phang-Nga, Penang, Melaka, Singapore Chinese why communies call themselves Baba and Nyonya (Baba for men and Medan show life and tradions of Peranakan communies and are the and Nyonya for women) including the ones living in the South of Thailand. perfect place to get iniated to this peculiar cultre. In Phuket for example, local Peranakan people call themselves “Phuket Babas”. ASEAN Peranakan populaton is estmated to represent eight to nine million people today with some communies also living in the Philippines and on Borneo Island. CHITTY PERANAKAN Peranakan not only designate Chinese mixing with locals but also Indians. In the 15th centry, traders from Tamil Nadu in South India arrived in the Sultanate of Melaka. They setled and adopted customs and the way of life from Malay and Chinese with influences from Portgal and Britain. They mostly live today in Melaka (there is a small museum dedicated to the Chity Peranakan communi) and in Singapore along Serangoon Road. PERANAKAN, A COLOURFUL CULTURE | 2 Introduction | 3 MAP Peranakan, A Colourful Culture Takua Pa 1 Phang-Nga Ci Krabi Phuket 2 Trang 3 Takua Pa Phang-Nga Ci Phuket Krabi Trang 4 5 Songkhla Ci Songkhla Ci Hat Yai Hat Yai Alor Setar First Brish Church in Malaya George Town George Town Alor Setar Ipoh (Penang) 6 7 (Penang) Melaka Johor Bahru 8 Ipoh Wat Matchimawat in Songkhla, THAILAND Medan 12 Katong Joo Chiat Melaka 9 Johor Bahru 10 11 Singapore Phuket old town, THAILAND Medan Padang Palembang Pangkal Pinang Belitng Peranakan well-alive in Singapore Katong/ Joo Chiat district, SINGAPORE N 13 Padang Pangkal Pinang ASEAN HERITAGE TRAIL PERANAKAN A COLOURFUL CULTURE 14 Belitng Palembang 4 Unique ancestral houses of Kampung Kapitan in Palembang, INDONESIA JOURNAL PLANNER Peranakan, A Colourful Culture Trip Name: Members: Date to Travel: Date Destnaton Travel by Stay at Time Where to What to do Route PERANAKAN Attractions not to be Missed PERANAKAN, A COLOURFUL CULTURE Attractions not to be Missed 1 Takua Pa old town Phang-Nga, THAILAND is considered a living museum of Peranakan cultre in Thailand. The ci became prosperous thanks to tn discovery and the move of many Chinese from Penang resetling there. The old town of Takua Pa is lined with tradional buildings ofering the tpical Sino-Malay architectre blended with European and Thai details. 2 Phuket old town Phuket, THAILAND has certainly the largest collecton of Peranakan houses in all of Thailand and the ci recently has done a lot to restore, to repaint and to give a new breath of life to old houses. Not only they look now colourful and are great photo motves that many accommodate now design shops, trendy eateries and cafes as well as hotels. Visit in partcularly Soi Romanee/corner of Thalang Road which ofers a perfect photo shot with its mult-coloured houses and Krabi Road for its magnificent villas (Phra Pitak Chinpracha Mansion, today Blue Elephant Restaurant or the Chinpracha Mansion.) 3 Trang old town Trang, THAILAND is now an open air museum for street art with old houses filled with paintngs. The most amazing are located along Ratchadamnoen Street in Thap Thiang sub-district. And have a cofee at Tubteng Old Town Cafe & Bistro with some more murals. 2 1 3 PERANAKAN, A COLOURFUL CULTURE | 12 Attractions not to be Missed | 13 4 Wat Matchimawat Songkhla, THAILAND Located in the middle of Songkhla old town with its Peranakan stle shop houses, the temple is one of the oldest in the South, datng back to the 17th centry and showing a blend of Chinese, European and Southern Thai stles. The Ayuthaya-stle ordinaton hall exhibits extraordinary murals depictng the life of Buddha. 5 Colonial atmosphere of Songkhla, THAILAND Nakhon Nai Road in Songkhla 5 The street has the highest number of Peranakan stle buildings, including the newly established museum of Ban Nakorn Nai, showing the life of a prominent Songkhla Chinese-Thai personali. 4 6 6 George Town ci view Penang, MALAYSIA Where to embrace best George Town historical ci with its hundreds of Peranakan stle shop houses crowned by red roofs? The Rainbow Skywalk on the top of the Komtar Tower ofers on the 68th floor at 248 meters gives you a 360° vision of town. If you feel scared to walk outdoors, there is a glassed observatory on the 65th floor! 7 Tycoon dreams in George Town Penang, MALAYSIA Nicknamed the “Millionaire’s Row”. Gurney Drive, a large boulevard nestled along Penang Coast, northwest of the E&O Hotel, was the prestge address of the rich and powerful during Brish tmes. Take a bike and admire a dozens of stately mansions looking like castles such as the Homestead –today the Wawasan Open Universi- or the Woodville Mansion. End up at Bangkok 7 Lane with its colonial shop houses next to Penang unique Thai-stle temple. PERANAKAN, A COLOURFUL CULTURE | 14 Attractions not to be Missed | 15 8 Ipoh ‘Taj Mahal’ has trains Ipoh, MALAYSIA Called the Taj Mahal by locals, the building carrying this name is actally the grand train staton of Ipoh. Tin made Ipoh prosperous in the early years of the 20th centry, translatng into a range of superb colonial buildings designed in Edwardian Baroque stle. That includes the Ci Hall, the St. Michael Insttton and of course the Rail Staton. Opened in 1917, the staton is crowned by a huge dome which gave the building its nickname. 9 Mixing Portgal, Holland and Peranakan in Melaka Melaka, MALAYSIA Melaka old town is a UNESCO world heritage and was an important Sultanate and the first internatonal trading place in Malaya back to the 15th centry. St. Paul Hill concentrates all these cultres with the late-Renaissance Dutch Stadhuys (Ci Hall) and the classical Christ Church facing the Brish Queen Victoria fountain. Few meters away is Santago Gate, the remains of Asia oldest Portguese fortress and the ruin of St. Paul church. Across the river, former Jonker and Heeren streets are lined up with Peranakan houses and Chinese temples. 8 10 10 Peranakan well-alive in Singapore Katong/Joo Chiat, SINGAPORE Katong/Joo Chiat district, the heart of the Peranakan communi. the heart of the Peranakan communi. Jewels of architectre with stcco- decorated two-storey shophouses and terrace houses looking like lace can be admired along Koon Seng Road and Joo Chiat Road among others. Some 9 are filled with restaurants and cofee shops selling local delicacies including the famous Katong Laksa. PERANAKAN, A COLOURFUL CULTURE | 16 Attractions not to be Missed | 17 11 Only for the wealthy and famous. Newton & Orchard, SINGAPORE 13 Along Batang Arau River in Padang.