Come Fly with Me Why Paragliding with Vultures Is the Next Big Thing in Adventure Travel FEBRUARY 2018

Dire straits Malacca’s special Chinese culture and its struggle to survive Baltic business The entrepreneurs who pitch investors from an ice hole High stakes How Vegas went all in to win new fans Come fly with me Why paragliding with vultures is the next big thing in adventure travel FEBRUARY 2018 001_Cover.indd 1 15/01/2018 15:49 066 n 066-078-malaysia.indd 066 16/01/2018 09:05 Down (but not out) in Malacca The Malaysian city is the birthplace of Peranakan, one of Asia’s most colourful cultures – now under threat. We took a trip to fi nd out if – and how – it might survive Words⁄ Sanjay Surana ! Photography⁄ Razlan Yusof n 067 066-078-malaysia.indd 067 16/01/2018 09:05 n the narrow streets of Chinatown in Malacca, the impact of the people who came to be known as Peranakans might not appear immediately obvious. But look carefully and traces emerge. You’ll fi nd them in the wooden doorways of houses, inscribed with Chinese Ocharacters; in a handful of special restaurants, where their food, shaped over generations, is served; and in tucked-away clothing stores where you can browse Melissa Chan sarong kebaya, the traditional woman’s dress, stitched A fifth-generation Peranakan in bold fl oral or animal motifs. Chinese, Melissa Chan gave up her This Malaysian city has become known for its career in advertising in Kuala unique blend of local Malay and immigrant Chinese Lumpur four years ago when her culture. Also known as Baba Nyonya (Baba are the uncle, who started the Baba Nyonya men; Nyonya the women), over 700 years Peranakans Heritage Museum, passed away. have given birth to amazing art and architecture, and a Today, as the museum’s curator, she delicious hybrid cuisine. But in the last couple of years, feels that the public perception of concerns have been raised that the culture may not Peranakans needs to change. “Since survive much longer. In the modern world, enthusism the 1980s, when tourism became a is waning for what some see as archaic customs. major focus for Malacca, the living “Due to the willingness of our forefathers to culture of the old town has taken a intermarry with the local women and their openness backseat to tourism dollars. What to absorb the diff erent cultures around them, we have we term the ‘Peranakan identity’ a unique hybrid,” notes Isaac Tan, owner of the Straits today has become more of a tourist Aff air café in Malacca and an eighth-generation Baba. commodity.” She has just published “We were once described by the British as the Malay- a book of stories about people who speaking, Western-educated, locally born Chinese. lived in the museum when it was a Everything from our food, our language, our dress and house. “The idea was to bring some our customs are mixed. But now we have to ensure of the cultural practices to life,” the revival of our language and customs, which are in she says. babanyonyamuseum.com danger of extinction. If Peranakan culture died out in Malacca, we would lose its place of origin.” » “Our language and customs are in danger of extinction” Opening pages⁄ The Malacca River Right, from top⁄ A traditional lantern and room divider (opposite) 068 n 066-078-malaysia.indd 068 16/01/2018 09:05 n 069 066-078-malaysia.indd 069 16/01/2018 09:05 Lee Yun Thien The managing director of the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, 30-year- old Lee Yun Thien says the loss of Peranakan culture in Malacca would be a tragedy: “I see it as a loss to not just Malacca but the whole nation.” Lee graduated from the National University of Malaysia with a master’s in Baba Nyonya identity and is now challenging the notions of what it means to be a part of the community. “The younger among us are more open, less traditionally polite,” he says. “The gender stereotype is that women can’t have short hair and must know how to cook, but if you aren’t like this are you no longer Baba Nyonya? The culture started from a point of change, they embraced change, so why are we looking at this change as a threat?” babanyonyamuseum.com The Baba Nyonya story starts back in the 1400s, when Chinese-Malay trade blossomed and boats fi lled with men from southern China journeyed to the sultanate of Malacca, lured by the prospect of fresh economic opportunities. Their children were known as Peranakans – Malay for “child of the land”, or “locally born”. Although this term was also used for those of Hindu, Muslim, and European mixed-ancestry, it was most commonly applied to those with Chinese fathers. Their homes were fi lled with strong Chinese imagery and iconography, as customs of the father’s lineage prevailed in matters of ritual, while cooking and language were derived from the Malay mothers. Such a division explains why most Baba Nyonya celebrate the Lunar New Year or practise ancestral worship, but don’t speak Mandarin, communicating instead in Baba Malay (mostly Malay, peppered with Chinese dialect Hokkien and European words). The Baba Nyonya became a powerful force during the 19th and 20th centuries, as they were aff orded special status in the British-controlled Straits Settlements of » n 071 066-078-malaysia.indd 071 16/01/2018 09:05 Malacca, Penang and Singapore. Educated in English, they could take up administrators’ jobs with the colonial government, or start their own businesses. Some became powerful entrepreneurs in shipping, spices and trade, amassing vast monies and lands in the process. This was consolidated thanks to a tendency for intermarriage within prominent families, and many of them lived in lavish terraced houses fi lled with porcelain, antiques and ornate furniture. Fast forward to today and Peranakans remain a visible presence in parts of Singapore, Malaysia and even Indonesia. And, while Peranakan fortunes waned after the Great Depression of the 1930s, their heritage continues, particularly in Malacca, where it’s a touchstone for the tourism industry and an important part of the multiculturalism that helped the city gain World Heritage status in 2008. Yet, despite its deep roots, many worry that Peranakan may die out. In October last year, tourism and culture minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz told The Sun Daily newspaper this prospect would be like Previous page⁄ “losing a limb... It’s an important component of our The entrance to the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum society and we don’t want its heritage to vanish.” From top⁄ It’s ironic that perhaps the greatest threat to the Baba Shop lots and a parked bicycle along Jalan Tuan Nyonya is one that mirrors the origins of the community Tan Cheng Lock but in reverse; many young members have left Malacca – often for Singapore – in search of better job prospects abroad. Bereft of this generation, families have begun to sell ancestral homes, shown by the For Sale and For Rent signs here in Chinatown. » n 073 066-078-malaysia.indd 073 16/01/2018 09:41 074 n 066-078-malaysia.indd 074 16/01/2018 09:41 Another problem is that the tourist interest has inspired selective preservation. “Some parts of our culture get a lot of focus,” complains Tan Siok-Choo, a journalist and author, a few months after the release of her book Within the Walls of Tun Tan Siew Sin’s Ancestral Home, a portrait of her Peranakan family house at 111 Jalan Tuan Tan Cheng Lock. “The Baba form of dress is well-preserved. But the tradition of making sarong kebayas is not focused on. These are all made by hand and nobody really wants to do it. The language is almost dying out; hardly anyone speaks it. The rituals are almost all gone, there is no interest among the young to preserve it.” Examples of this can be found on Jonker Walk, Chinatown’s main commercial drag, where the cafés, souvenir shops, and souped-up rickshaws can be a jarring introduction where one gets the feeling that Nyonya culture is appropriated as a vehicle for making money. “I’ve seen Nyonya almond cookies for sale,” notes Isaac Tan. “But almonds are not a Nyonya food.” » “The next Isaac Tan generation has A former lawyer, Isaac Tan, 28, opened the Straits Affair café in August 2016 to be allowed a on the same road that has the oldest mosque, and South Indian and Chinese sense of identity” temples in Malacca. He is on a mission to educate diners on Peranakan food and its diverse influences. “I have taken it upon myself to revive the lost or rare delicacies so that they do not go extinct. For example, the apom berkuah [an Indian-influenced idli-like dish, served with a palm- sugar sauce, that takes three hours to make], and pang su sie [a sweet potato meat bun adopted from the Portuguese] can only be found at Straits Affair. If I don’t make it here, it will get lost.” facebook.com/straitsaffair From left⁄ Peranakan apom berkuah – literally “pancakes with sauce” – at Straits Affair; an old map of the fortress of Malacca n 075 066-078-malaysia.indd 075 16/01/2018 09:41 But all is not doom and gloom. The risks to their Clockwise from top left⁄ society’s existence are prompting a number of Straits Traditional Baba Nyonya Chinese, including Isaac Tan and Tan Siok-Choo, to kebaya from J.Manik; Baba Nyonya glass beads used work towards revitalising the community. To meet for the Nyonya beaded shoes, known as kasut more like them, we venture one street over from manek; Joyce Ngiow of Jonker, to Jalan Tuan Tan Cheng Lock, where a more J.Manik restrained and authentic view of Baba Nyonya awaits.

Load more