Peranakan
The Peranakan people, often referred to as the Straits Chinese, are descendants of Chinese immigrants who settled in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore between the 15th and 18th centuries. Initially arriving as traders and shopkeepers, they played a key role in facilitating commerce between the British and local populations. Over generations, the Peranakan community has assimilated through intermarriage with local ethnic groups while maintaining a distinct cultural identity that emphasizes education, family, and financial success. Their cuisine is particularly notable for its unique flavors, featuring ingredients like turmeric, ginger, and shrimp paste, which sets it apart from traditional Chinese fare.
Today, the Peranakan community primarily resides in regions like Penang, Malacca, and parts of Indonesia, where they have navigated challenges such as ethnic discrimination and political upheaval. Despite these challenges, interest in Peranakan culture has surged, with literature, films, and cultural events celebrating their heritage. Although many Peranakans have adopted Malaysian surnames and identity, concerns persist about the preservation of their traditional languages and customs, as younger generations increasingly distance themselves from their roots. The Peranakan experience reflects a rich tapestry of cultural blending and resilience within Southeast Asia.
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Peranakan
The population of East Asia is comprised of thousands of ethnic groups. The Peranakan Chinese are immigrants to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. They arrived from China between 1500 and 1800. The Peranakans were traders and shopkeepers brokering deals between the British, Chinese, and Malaysians. The Peranakans valued education and did business in two or three languages. Though they intermarried with locals, the older Peranakans assiduously held on to their native language, culture, and traditions.
Background
Successive generations of the Peranakans have intermarried and assimilated, yet they still self-identify as Peranakans. Chinese Peranakans survive as the largest sector, but there are Hindu, Indian Muslim, and Eurasian Peranakans. They emphasize education, strong family units, and financial prowess. Men and women share equal rights in matters such as inheritance and business. Their food is diverse and distinctive, serving as a link to ancient traditions. It tends to be spicier and hotter than Chinese food. Turmeric, ginger, shallots, chives, and shrimp paste are the basics of the Peranakan dishes.
The Chinese Peranakans lived primarily in the Straits Settlements of Singapore, Penang, and Malacca during British colonial times. The British propped up the Chinese dynasty which then favored British trading companies and mining companies. These Peranakans became known as the King’s Chinese. They were British subjects following the British annexation of the Straits Settlements as a Crown colony in 1867. (In the 1850s, the British gave military equipment and aid to the dynasty to wipe out twenty million Chinese who revolted).
The Peranakans attained higher standards of income than most Chinese migrants, and some lived lavish lifestyles until the Great Depression in the 1930s destroyed many businesses. They were community and civic leaders and in banking, real estate, and shipping. After that, they fell into a period of decline. Their loyalty to the British Empire and the monarchy was expressed through the Peranakan Straits Chinese British Association, which is active into the mid-2020s as the Peranakan Association. They had their own football and recreation clubs and maintained their culture through Peranakan museums, Peranakan newspapers, and culture clubs.
Their financial success, Western education, and conversions to Christianity as a means of moving up the social ladder kept them loyal to the British and the Netherlands (the other colonial power in the Far East). The Peranakans did not initially support independence movements in Malaysia or Indonesia, but their loyalties changed when the Japanese invaded during World War II, ruling Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
Peranakan Today
Peranakans prominently live in Penang and Malacca, Indonesia. Terengganu, the East Coast state of Indonesia, is home to Peranakan Chinese. The region suffered through the 1960s and into the twenty-first century from ethnic hatred and violence exacerbated by political upheaval and government corruption. The Peranakan Chinese have now been living in Malaysia for ten generations. They number about twenty thousand in Indonesia and are largely of mixed ancestry.
Ethnic Chinese living in Indonesia were attacked and discriminated against over years of anti-Communist political purges. The Peranakan Chinese were not immune. Compounding the violence was the swing by the have-nots against the wealthier Chinese. Many fled Indonesia, seeking refuge in Bali and elsewhere. Following the overthrow of President Suharto, the ethnic Chinese were invited back. The Indonesian Chinese who returned flourished under years of reform that lasted through the early twenty-first century. The Peranakan culture has become of interest in Malaysia and Indonesia. Nonfiction writers and novelists have produced books, and there are films about the life of the Indonesian Peranakans. In 2008, there was a television drama series starring a Peranakan actor and another titled The Little Nyonya showcasing Peranakan culture. A coffee-table book and ethnographies are being published about the Peranakans of Malaysia. There are prominent Peranakan actors, philanthropists, novelists, architects, and athletes.
Though Peranakans in Malaysia have multiple cultural identities, they are all Malaysians. Many have kept their Chinese surnames, while others take Malaysian surnames. Assimilation and acculturation have distanced the Peranakans from ethnic Chinese. They no longer speak Mandarin, Hakka-fa, or Cantonese. Ethnographers and the older generation of Peranakans worry that their passions for traditional foods, arts and crafts, languages, and dialects are not enough to keep their cultures from disappearing. Peranakans in diaspora, such as those in Australia, also work to promote their culture and pass on their traditions to younger generations.
Bibliography
Aspinall, Edward, and Mada Sukmajati, editors. Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia: Money Politics, Patronage and Clientelism at the Grassroots. National University of Singapore Press, 2016.
Lindsey, Tim, and Helen Pausacker, editors. Chinese Indonesians: Remembering, Distorting, Forgetting. ISEAS Publishing, 2015.
Montsion, J. M., and Parasram, A. "'The Little Nyonya' and Singapore’s National Self: Reflections on Aesthetics, Ethnicity and Postcolonial State Formation." Postcolonial Studies, vol. 21, no. 2, 2018, pp. 154–171. Taylor & Francis Online, doi.org/10.1080/13688790.2018.1461174. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.
"The Peranakan Community: A Marriage of Cultures." Kim Choo Kueh Chang, www.kimchoo.com/who-are-the-peranakan. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.
Pillai, Patrick. Yearning to Belong: Malaysia's Indian Muslims, Chitties, Portuguese Eurasians, Peranakan Chinese and Baweanese. ISEAS Publishing, 2015.
Sakai, Naoki, and Hyon Joo Yoo. The Trans-Pacific Imagination: Rethinking Boundary, Culture and Society. World Scientific Publishing, 2012.
Yanqin, Lin. “In Australia, a New Generation of Peranakans Find a Way Back to their Roots.” CNA, 15 Oct. 2023, www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-insider/peranakans-australia-cultural-identity-immigrants-down-under-nyonya-kebaya-3843596?utm. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.