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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
FEBRUARY 2018
Why paragliding with vultures is the next big thing in adventure travel
066
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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 find out if – and how – it might survive Words⁄Sanjay
Surana
!
Photography⁄Razlan
Yusof
n 067
O
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 find them in the wooden doorways of houses, inscribed with Chinese characters; in a handful of special restaurants, where their food, shaped over generations, is served; and in tucked-away clothing stores where you can browse sarong kebaya, the traditional woman’s dress, stitched in bold floral or animal motifs. This Malaysian city has become known for its unique blend of local Malay and immigrant Chinese culture. Also known as Baba Nyonya (Baba are the men; Nyonya the women), over 700 years Peranakans have given birth to amazing art and architecture, and a delicious hybrid cuisine. But in the last couple of years, concerns have been raised that the culture may not survive much longer. In the modern world, enthusism is waning for what some see as archaic customs. “Due to the willingness of our forefathers to intermarry with the local women and their openness to absorb the different cultures around them, we have a unique hybrid,” notes Isaac Tan, owner of the Straits Affair café in Malacca and an eighth-generation Baba. “We were once described by the British as the Malayspeaking, Western-educated, locally born Chinese. Everything from our food, our language, our dress and our customs are mixed. But now we have to ensure the revival of our language and customs, which are in 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)
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Melissa Chan A fifth-generation Peranakan Chinese, Melissa Chan gave up her career in advertising in Kuala Lumpur four years ago when her uncle, who started the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, passed away. Today, as the museum’s curator, she feels that the public perception of Peranakans needs to change. “Since the 1980s, when tourism became a major focus for Malacca, the living culture of the old town has taken a backseat to tourism dollars. What we term the ‘Peranakan identity’ today has become more of a tourist commodity.” She has just published a book of stories about people who lived in the museum when it was a house. “The idea was to bring some of the cultural practices to life,” she says. babanyonyamuseum.com
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Lee Yun Thien The managing director of the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, 30-yearold 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 filled 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 filled 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 afforded special status in the British-controlled Straits Settlements of »
n 071
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 filled 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 “losing a limb... It’s an important component of our society and we don’t want its heritage to vanish.” It’s ironic that perhaps the greatest threat to the Baba Nyonya is one that mirrors the origins of the community 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. »
Previous page⁄ The entrance to the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum From top⁄ Shop lots and a parked bicycle along Jalan Tuan Tan Cheng Lock
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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 generation has to be allowed a sense of identity”
Isaac Tan A former lawyer, Isaac Tan, 28, opened the Straits Affair café in August 2016 on the same road that has the oldest mosque, and South Indian and Chinese 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 palmsugar 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
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But all is not doom and gloom. The risks to their society’s existence are prompting a number of Straits Chinese, including Isaac Tan and Tan Siok-Choo, to work towards revitalising the community. To meet more like them, we venture one street over from Jonker, to Jalan Tuan Tan Cheng Lock, where a more restrained and authentic view of Baba Nyonya awaits. Here on “Millionaire’s Row” there is a palpable sense of the grand wealth that once coursed through the street – evident from the terraced houses with terracotta roofs and imposing wooden doors. Three of these now house the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, a showcase of opulence that’s crammed with gilded staircases, silk embroidery panels and teak chairs with mother-of-pearl inlay. Lee Yun Thien and Melissa Chan, the young managing director and curator of the museum, are making a concerted effort to raise awareness of the culture’s problems, and reconcile Peranakan values with modern life. “We can’t see it as just something in a museum,” says Thien. “The next generation has to take hold of the culture and be allowed to create meaning and a sense of identity from it,” agrees Chan. Near the museum you’ll find Joyce Ngiow, who owns the clothing boutique J.Manik with her sister Jennifer, and is championing the rare artistry of kebayas and »
Clockwise from top left⁄ Traditional Baba Nyonya kebaya from J.Manik; Baba Nyonya glass beads used for the Nyonya beaded shoes, known as kasut manek; Joyce Ngiow of J.Manik
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“I want to keep the tradition alive, otherwise one day it might die off”
While you’re in… Malacca
Stay
The Majestic
This former private mansion has colonial touches, like teak four-poster beds and clawfoot tubs. Spa treatments use typical Nyonya ingredients, such as guava and pandan leaves. majesticmalacca.com
078
n
Eat
Amy Heritage Nyonya Cuisine
Amy’s delivers the finest of this rich, complex cuisine. The menu has dishes rarely found elsewhere, like spinach, cabbage, and sweet potato in coconut sauce. 75 Jalan Malacca Raya 24
From top left⁄ Bendi kukus (steamed okra) at Amy Heritage Nyonya Cuisine; chefowner Amy Koh; the restaurant’s décor
Do
Bukit Cina
Meaning China Hill, this atmospheric Chinese graveyard is one of the largest outside China, home to 12,000 graves. Bring bug spray.
SIDEB AR P HOT O S : CEP HOT O, U WE AR ANA S / C C - BY - S A - 3. 0, Y T L HOT EL S
Peranakan glass-beaded shoes. “One pair takes three months to make and uses 54,000 beads, all stitched by hand,” Joyce says, standing proudly by racks of kebayas made of Swiss voile, and intricately patterned shoes in her family’s former house. “I make the shoes and kebayas because I want to keep the tradition alive, otherwise one day it might die off,” she says. The good news for visitors is that one of the best ways to keep the culture alive is through its delicious fusion food – and authentic examples can still be found in abundance if you know where to look. “Our food is influenced by Indians, Chinese, Portuguese, Malay, British,” explains Amy Koh, a former nurse and now chef-owner of Amy Heritage Nyonya Cuisine, who follows her ancestral recipes, using flour and butter in some dishes as well as Malay ingredients like coconut milk, chillis, tamarind and ginger torch flower. So, as the decorations go up for another Chinese New Year – at least the 700th since their forefathers appeared on these shores – it’s clear this latest generation of Peranakans won’t let their heritage die without a fight. Koh, in particular, is defiant about its chances of survival. “We are doing all we can to revive the Baba Nyonya. We will make sure it doesn’t ever disappear.” Malacca is just one of the fascinating places in Malaysia accessible via Singapore Airport; Norwegian flies to Singapore from London/Gatwick. Book flights, a hotel and a rental car at Norwegian.com
Come fly with me
FEBRUARY 2018
Why paragliding with vultures is the next big thing in adventure travel
066
n
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 find out if – and how – it might survive Words⁄Sanjay
Surana
!
Photography⁄Razlan
Yusof
n 067
O
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 find them in the wooden doorways of houses, inscribed with Chinese characters; in a handful of special restaurants, where their food, shaped over generations, is served; and in tucked-away clothing stores where you can browse sarong kebaya, the traditional woman’s dress, stitched in bold floral or animal motifs. This Malaysian city has become known for its unique blend of local Malay and immigrant Chinese culture. Also known as Baba Nyonya (Baba are the men; Nyonya the women), over 700 years Peranakans have given birth to amazing art and architecture, and a delicious hybrid cuisine. But in the last couple of years, concerns have been raised that the culture may not survive much longer. In the modern world, enthusism is waning for what some see as archaic customs. “Due to the willingness of our forefathers to intermarry with the local women and their openness to absorb the different cultures around them, we have a unique hybrid,” notes Isaac Tan, owner of the Straits Affair café in Malacca and an eighth-generation Baba. “We were once described by the British as the Malayspeaking, Western-educated, locally born Chinese. Everything from our food, our language, our dress and our customs are mixed. But now we have to ensure the revival of our language and customs, which are in 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
Melissa Chan A fifth-generation Peranakan Chinese, Melissa Chan gave up her career in advertising in Kuala Lumpur four years ago when her uncle, who started the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, passed away. Today, as the museum’s curator, she feels that the public perception of Peranakans needs to change. “Since the 1980s, when tourism became a major focus for Malacca, the living culture of the old town has taken a backseat to tourism dollars. What we term the ‘Peranakan identity’ today has become more of a tourist commodity.” She has just published a book of stories about people who lived in the museum when it was a house. “The idea was to bring some of the cultural practices to life,” she says. babanyonyamuseum.com
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Lee Yun Thien The managing director of the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, 30-yearold 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 filled 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 filled 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 afforded special status in the British-controlled Straits Settlements of »
n 071
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 filled 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 “losing a limb... It’s an important component of our society and we don’t want its heritage to vanish.” It’s ironic that perhaps the greatest threat to the Baba Nyonya is one that mirrors the origins of the community 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. »
Previous page⁄ The entrance to the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum From top⁄ Shop lots and a parked bicycle along Jalan Tuan Tan Cheng Lock
n 073
074
n
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 generation has to be allowed a sense of identity”
Isaac Tan A former lawyer, Isaac Tan, 28, opened the Straits Affair café in August 2016 on the same road that has the oldest mosque, and South Indian and Chinese 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 palmsugar 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
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But all is not doom and gloom. The risks to their society’s existence are prompting a number of Straits Chinese, including Isaac Tan and Tan Siok-Choo, to work towards revitalising the community. To meet more like them, we venture one street over from Jonker, to Jalan Tuan Tan Cheng Lock, where a more restrained and authentic view of Baba Nyonya awaits. Here on “Millionaire’s Row” there is a palpable sense of the grand wealth that once coursed through the street – evident from the terraced houses with terracotta roofs and imposing wooden doors. Three of these now house the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, a showcase of opulence that’s crammed with gilded staircases, silk embroidery panels and teak chairs with mother-of-pearl inlay. Lee Yun Thien and Melissa Chan, the young managing director and curator of the museum, are making a concerted effort to raise awareness of the culture’s problems, and reconcile Peranakan values with modern life. “We can’t see it as just something in a museum,” says Thien. “The next generation has to take hold of the culture and be allowed to create meaning and a sense of identity from it,” agrees Chan. Near the museum you’ll find Joyce Ngiow, who owns the clothing boutique J.Manik with her sister Jennifer, and is championing the rare artistry of kebayas and »
Clockwise from top left⁄ Traditional Baba Nyonya kebaya from J.Manik; Baba Nyonya glass beads used for the Nyonya beaded shoes, known as kasut manek; Joyce Ngiow of J.Manik
n 077
“I want to keep the tradition alive, otherwise one day it might die off”
While you’re in… Malacca
Stay
The Majestic
This former private mansion has colonial touches, like teak four-poster beds and clawfoot tubs. Spa treatments use typical Nyonya ingredients, such as guava and pandan leaves. majesticmalacca.com
078
n
Eat
Amy Heritage Nyonya Cuisine
Amy’s delivers the finest of this rich, complex cuisine. The menu has dishes rarely found elsewhere, like spinach, cabbage, and sweet potato in coconut sauce. 75 Jalan Malacca Raya 24
From top left⁄ Bendi kukus (steamed okra) at Amy Heritage Nyonya Cuisine; chefowner Amy Koh; the restaurant’s décor
Do
Bukit Cina
Meaning China Hill, this atmospheric Chinese graveyard is one of the largest outside China, home to 12,000 graves. Bring bug spray.
SIDEB AR P HOT O S : CEP HOT O, U WE AR ANA S / C C - BY - S A - 3. 0, Y T L HOT EL S
Peranakan glass-beaded shoes. “One pair takes three months to make and uses 54,000 beads, all stitched by hand,” Joyce says, standing proudly by racks of kebayas made of Swiss voile, and intricately patterned shoes in her family’s former house. “I make the shoes and kebayas because I want to keep the tradition alive, otherwise one day it might die off,” she says. The good news for visitors is that one of the best ways to keep the culture alive is through its delicious fusion food – and authentic examples can still be found in abundance if you know where to look. “Our food is influenced by Indians, Chinese, Portuguese, Malay, British,” explains Amy Koh, a former nurse and now chef-owner of Amy Heritage Nyonya Cuisine, who follows her ancestral recipes, using flour and butter in some dishes as well as Malay ingredients like coconut milk, chillis, tamarind and ginger torch flower. So, as the decorations go up for another Chinese New Year – at least the 700th since their forefathers appeared on these shores – it’s clear this latest generation of Peranakans won’t let their heritage die without a fight. Koh, in particular, is defiant about its chances of survival. “We are doing all we can to revive the Baba Nyonya. We will make sure it doesn’t ever disappear.” Malacca is just one of the fascinating places in Malaysia accessible via Singapore Airport; Norwegian flies to Singapore from London/Gatwick. Book flights, a hotel and a rental car at Norwegian.com
