What is Baba Nyonya?

Baba Byonya (Peranakan, the term used popularly for descendants of early Chinese immigrants to the Nusantara region, including both the British Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca and Penang, and the Dutch controlled island of Java among other areas, who have partially adopted Malay customs in an effort to be assimilated into the local communities.

The word of Peranakan, is also used commonly to describe Indonesia Chinese. In both BM & Bahasa Indonesia, Peranakan” means descendant. Baba refer to the male descendants and Nyonya the female. Most Peranakanare of Hokkein ancestry, although a fair denomination of them are of the Teocheww or Cantonese descent. The language of the Peranakan, Baba Malay (Bahasa Melayu Baba), is a dialect of the Malay Language which contains many Hokkein works.

The Nyonya Baba were partially assimilated into the Malay culture, especially in food, dress and language used, while retaining some of the Chinese traditions and culture, like religion, name, folk medicine and festival celebrations, thereby creating a new kind of mixed culture of their country of origin with local, among those, like “Nyonya cuisine “ has developed the spices of Malay cuisine, examples are curry recipe cooking, Inchi Kabin, Chicken Kapitan, fried or cry chicken & sea foods, with local spicy & spicery. Wearring the Baju Kebaya. Most of the Peranakan are not Muslim, but have retained the ancestral worship tradition of the Chinese, especially of their wedding ceremony is largely based upon the Chinese tradition.

Ancestry

Most Peranakans are of Hoklo (Hokkien) ancestry, although a sizable number are of Teochew or Cantonese descent. Originally, the Peranakan were mixed-race descendants, part Chinese, part Malay/Indonesian.

Baba Nyonya are a subgroup within Chinese communities, are the descendants of Sino-indigenous unions in Melaka, Penang, and Indonesia. It was not uncommon for early Chinese traders to take Malay/Indonesian women of Peninsular Malay/Sumatera/Javanese as wives or concubines Consequently the Baba Nyonya possessed a mix of cultural traits.

Written records from the 19th and early 20th centuries show that Peranakan men usually took brides from within the local Peranakan community. Peranakan families occasionally imported brides from China and sent their daughters to China to find husbands.

Some sources claim that the early Peranakan inter-married with the local Malay/Indonesian population; this might derive from the fact that some of the servants who settled in Bukit Cina who traveled to Malacca with the Admiral from Yunnan were Muslim Chinese. Other experts, however, see a general lack of physical resemblance, leading them to believe that the Peranakan Chinese ethnicity has hardly been diluted. One notable case to back the claim is of the Peranakan community in Tangerang, Indonesia, known as Cina Benteng. Their physical look is indigenous, yet they dutifully adhere to the Peranakan customs, and most of them are Buddhist. Some Peranakan distinguish between Peranakan-Baba (those Peranakan with part Malay ancestry) from Peranakan (those without any Malay ancestry).

 

Religion

Baba Nyonya subscribed to Chinese beliefs: Taoism, Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism, celebrated the Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival, while adopting the customs of the land they settled in, as well as those of their colonial rulers. There are traces of Portuguese, Dutch, British, Malay and Indonesian influences in Baba culture.A certain number of Baba Nonya families were and still are, Catholic. However in this modern society, lots of young Peranakan community have been embracing Christianity. Most notably in Indonesia, Country with the most significant Peranakan where most of the Chinese are Christians.