Baba and Nyonya - Cultural Anthropology

Peranakan Chinese and Baba-Nyonya are terms used for the descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants to the Indonesian archipelago of Nusantara during the Colonial era. Members of this community in Melaka address themselves as "Nyonya Baba" instead of "Baba-Nyonya". Nyonya is the term for the ladies and Baba for the gentlemen. It applies especially to the ethnic Chinese populations of the British Straits Settlements of Malaya and the Dutch-controlled island of Java and other locations, who have adopted partially or in full Nusantara customs to be somewhat assimilated into the local communities. They were the elites of Singapore, more loyal to the British than to China. Most have lived for generations along thestraits of Malacca and not all intermarried with the local Native Indonesians and Malays. They were usually traders, the middleman of the British and the Chinese, or the Chinese and Malays, or vice versa because they were mostly English educated. Because of this, they almost always had the ability to speak two or more languages. In later generations, some lost the ability to speak Chinese as they became assimilated to the Malay Peninsula 's culture and started to speak Malay fluently as a first or second language.

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

References: Lee, C.K. (1974) Mrs. Lee’s Cookbook : Nyonya recipes and other favourite recipes, Lee, P.S.Y. (ed.), Singapore : Mrs Lee’s Cookbook. Wong,J. (2003) Nyonya Flavours : A complete Guide to Penang Straits Chinese Cuisine, Penang : The State Chinese (Penang) Association and Star Publications (M.) Berhad Tan, C.B. (1998) ‘Chinese Peranakan food and symbolism in Malaysia’, The Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on the Chinese Dietary Culture, Taipei : Foundation Of Chinese Dietary Culture, pp. 185-210. Tan Gek Suan (2004) Gateway To Peranakan Food Culture, Singapore.