Luò yè guī gēn: Falling leaves return to their roots - an exploration of my heritage

 "I'm originally Malaysian-Chinese" I would insist as a child.

"No you can't be - you're either Malaysian or Chinese, or you mean you're half and half." was the common response...so much so that I started agreeing.  

"Originally, my parents are from Malaysia." became my new phrase - only to be met with "But you look Chinese."  Soon I gave up.  Born in the UK, I was raised with British customs, using the English language, and never felt the need to revisit my heritage, except to sample the food on holiday.

I vaguely heard stories about life in Malaysia, I certainly enjoyed the food my grandpa - and my dad - used to cook (I would only learn later that was unusual to his upbringing - the kitchen was traditionally the woman's domain...but both my mum and my grandma could barely boil an egg...come to think of it, that's the same with me), but with no option to write "Malaysian" on ethnic monitoring, I started ticking "Chinese" (because that's what I looked like), and carried on with my very British life.

If only I had learned the word Peranakan...and if I had, if only the people I spoke to knew it too.  Maybe I would have learned more about my rich history before my grandma, then my grandpa, and then my mother passed away.

As a psychologist, I know the research which says that children who are familiar with their heritage have greater confidence and self esteem.  There is an automatic sense of unity in belonging to a larger tapestry which can be quite helpful in establishing a sense that one can leave a legacy, rather than simply be passing through.

Luò yè guī gēn: Falling leaves return to their roots

There is a Chinese saying that "Falling leaves return to their roots".  No matter how far you travel, you will at some point, return "home".  I don't use it, but I have my Chinese name Poh Lin (Precious Lotus - you see the play on words for my pen name), I don't speak the language but I know what foods I like, and I seem to be vacationing in South East Asia more and more.  Then, only a couple of days ago my cousin called me to ask "Do you know what part of China we're from originally?"

Knowing one's past - including how ancestors lived, their culture, daily life, customs and behaviours - can give an insight into why one might behave as we do.  Without even tracing further back than my grandparents we have an immediate history of migration, which I see reflected in my own approach to life - I rather like to go where the wind takes me.  But, with Malaysia or Singapore always being a "should I move" option, I did begin to ask myself - actually, where DO I come from - because maybe that might play a role in where I want to go.

I started to unpick my tapestry.

Original Straits Settlements

I am Peranakan.  That is Malaysian-Chinese.

Peranakan - derived from the Malay "anak" meaning offspring means "descendant", but metaphorically it has come to mean locally born, but not indigenous to that country. Particularly, the Peranakan line of which I am descendant is that of the Baba Nyonya.  

All Baba Nyonyas are Perakanan, not all Perakanas are Baba Nyonya.  The term Baba Nyonya is honorific and reserved for the decendants of the South Chinese settlers who arrived in the Malay archipelago - notably the straits - Melaka (or Malacca as it was then known), Penang and Singapore (once part of Malaya) around the 14th century, intermarrying with the locals and adopting many of the "host" traditions and cultures, while firmly retaining elements of their own.  

LEFT top and bottom
My Grandmother's Jewellery
auctioned at Bonhams

Because of their ability to adapt, assimilate, and adopt cultures - and notably their education in learning language, perhaps due to their Merchant status and affinity with travel - the Peranakans thrived.  They held high office because they could communicate widely, and had a keen awareness of a broad range of customs.  Their wealth and status grew to their heyday in the late 18th and early 19th century.  With unique pieces of jewellery (often gold and jade with the phoenix as a motif) adorning their bodies from head via kerong-sang to toe, the Peranakans were arguably the original "Crazy Rich Asians."

However, with the British Empire officially colonising Malaya in 1867 (although their presence had been felt long before), things took an interesting turn.

The Peranakans soon became fluent in English, and their flexibility soon saw them moving towards Western dress and eating with the fork and spoon (rather than the more common right hand or chopsticks).  Again they would rise to high office, which afforded them luxuries such as travel to Europe - my Grandfather, the secretary of Dunlop not only took an around the world trip, but published his experiences in a magazine.  However, come 1941 and events on the World stage encroaching into Malaya - the Japanese invasion along with the British giving Malaysia back it's independence in 1957, the golden age of the Baba Nynonyas was soon to fade.

Perhaps it was that the Malaysian nationals did not take kindly to those they perceived as "sleeping with the enemy", perhaps the Japanese invasion took too great a toll (my Grandfather lost all five of his brothers), perhaps a history of assimilating cultures eventually leads to too great a dilution and there is no-one left to pass on the traditions too, but not only did my parents - and my maternal grandparents migrate to the UK - where I was born, but so too did their relatives move on.  My grandmother's sisters ended up in Singapore and the UK, my mum's brother went to Australia, my dad's brothers went to Singapore and the UK also - only one remained in Ipoh - and with them went any need for tradition.

My parents & grandparents. 
My mother's side (L) are Baba Nyonya

Now, with the historical Peranakan states asking nationals to select "Malay" or "Chinese" or "Indian" (the Chitti Indians are also Peranakan), the idea of being multi-racial is lost.  If you visit Melaka, Penang or Singapore, there is evidence of the culture in the form of shop houses and a couple of museums, but even with hawkers expecting their children to become doctors or lawyers (or psychologists) rather than continue learning the foods of the culture - I wonder how long I will have a heritage for.

Which is why I have taken up this blog.

In this will be my research, photos and family stories of the Peranakans - and specifically Baba Nyonya life.  I hope to educate myself on where I fit into such a colourful culture - and perhaps learn more about my idiosynchrasies along the way.  As a psychologist I also want to celebrate the resilience and adaptability of my heritage, but learn from where they tipped into decline; and perhaps if you read this you will get a better sense of me - and be inspired to pull those heritage threads of your own.