111th ANNIVERSARY: AFTERNOON DELIGHT The Peranakan Association Singapore celebrates its 111th anniversary with a lunch and dance on Sunday, 4 December 2011 at Grand Park Hotel City Hall Ballroom, Hill Street. Join us for great food, entertainment, cheery company and an all-round jolly ol’ time! Dress code: Peranakan attire / smart casual Time: 11am – 4pm Lunch buffet by Chef Nelson … [Read more...]
MOTHER OF ALL MANEK
November 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Baba Peter Lee is totally beadazzled! So you think you’ve seenbeadwork? If you areconvinced it’s hard totop the kind of crazy beadedtablecloths that Penang Peranakanscommissioned, well think again. After all, we are merely talkingabout several square feet of ratherordinary faceted Bohemian glassbeads, not precious stones. manek … [Read more...]
Peranakan 111
November 25, 2011 By 2 Comments
Dear Members, We hope this message finds you in the pink of health! The Peranakan Association Singapore (TPAS) is proud to announce a special initiative in celebration of our 111th anniversary: Peranakan 111 - a selection of songs with a contemporary twist! Sing along to evergreen favourites from our very own choir, The Peranakan Voices, groove to the harmonious tunes by renowned … [Read more...]
MOTHER OF ALL MANEK
November 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
So you think you’ve seen beadwork? Earlier this year, Sotheby’s in New York sold a magnificent beadwork canopy (yes, canopy!) made of, well, some glass beads, but more importantly, over 500,000 Basra pearls as well as diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds. Commissioned by Khande Rao Gaekwar, the Maharaja of Baroda and made between 1865 and 1870, this manek-ficently opulent canopy … [Read more...]
Does the Pure Peranakan Exist
November 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Ada Kah Peranakan Jati? Have you, like me, ever wondered why an uncle or auntie of yours was so dark, or looked ‘un-Chinese’? For years I was curious about two of my mother’s four brothers: One was tanned, like a Malay; another was of fair complexion, almost Eurasian. They shared the same Peranakan-Chinese parents. Did something go a miss in past generations, were there skeletons or … [Read more...]
Good Girl, Bad Girl
November 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL Baba Peter Lee takes a humorous, historical jaunt through the world of Peranakan mothers Above some ancestral altars in the centuriesold Peranakan residences on Heeren Street in Malacca, hang the portraits not of the founding patriarch, as one would expect of patriarchal Confucian custom, but of the power behind that man: the woman he married. Visually at least, a … [Read more...]
Our Epic Third Tan Tock Seng Family Renion – Bukan Main Lau-Jiat!
November 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The third Tan Tock Seng family reunion began with a Peranakan high tea at the Golden Bell Villa in Singapore on 26 July. The stately and grand mansion located at 10 Pender Road on Mount Faber was built in 1910 by Tan Boo Liat, a great-grandson of Tan Tock Seng. He named the mansion “Golden Bell” in memory of his father, Tan Kim Ching, the eldest son of Tan Tock Seng. Kim hing in Hokkien … [Read more...]
The Language Of Peranakan Beadwork
November 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Bebe Seet’s book, Peranakan Beadwork – My Heritage, is a fine work that covers the history of Peranakan beading. It shows the different types of beaded slippers (kasot manek), describes the intricate skills involved in their making and includes illustrations of beadwork including shoes, ladies’ clutch bags, table cloths, bed covers and a host of wedding paraphernalia like sangkot … [Read more...]
