Date/Time
Date(s) - 02/08/2019
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location
ASIAN CIVILISATIONS MUSEUM, Auditorium
Categories
UPDATE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN FULLY BOOKED. REGISTRATION IS CLOSED. WALK-INS WILL NOT BE ADMITTED.
DATE: Friday, 2 August 2019
TIME: 7pm (Light refreshments will be served in the foyer from 6.15pm.)
VENUE: Asian Civilisations Museum, 1 Empress Place, Singapore 179555, Auditorium (Basement)
This event is open to the public and is free of charge. Free Seating.
Pre-registration required to attend.
ABOUT THE FORUM
The Peranakan Identity is one that has been much debated. How are Peranakans defined? By genetics? Language? Cultural practices? Way of life?
This forum will serve as a platform for lively and open discussion about what defines a Peranakan.
Scientists from the Genome Institute of Singapore, Professors Roger Foo and Wang Chao Long, will kick off the forum by presenting their findings from a ground-breaking study of Peranakan DNA collected from Singapore Peranakans in 2017 and 2018.
This will be followed by a discussion with a panel of scholars comprising Prof Leo Suryadinata (Senior Visiting Fellow, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute), historian, Assistant Prof Seng Guo Quan (Department of History, National University of Singapore), Associate Prof Lim Beng Soon (Head, Malay Language and Literature programme, Singapore University of Social Sciences) and award-winning Peranakan author, Nyonya Josephine Chia. The panel will be moderated by Nyonya Dawn Marie Lee, Editor, THE PERANAKAN magazine.
Members of the floor with be invited to join the discourse, pose questions to the panellists and share their views on Peranakan Identity.
Come with an open mind and explore the ethnic roots and cultural underpinnings that make up this rich and diverse culture. All are welcome!
Venue sponsored by the Asian Civilisations Museum.
Refreshments sponsored by Foo Lab.
ABOUT THE PANELLISTS
PROF ROGER FOO & PROF WANG CHAO LONG (GENETICS)
Genome Institute of Singapore
Professors Roger Foo and Wang Chao Long are Principal Investigators of the Singapore Peranakan Genome Project, launched in 2017.
Roger is a Cardiologist at the National University Hospital Heart Centre and also a Principal Investigator at the Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR).
Chao Long was a Principal Investigator at the Genome Institute before being headhunted in 2018, to the Huazhong University of Science and Technology on the Thousand Talents programme in China. Together, Chaolong and Roger have been analysing and finding interesting results from the genomes of Peranakan DNA.
PROF LEO SURYADINATA (SOCIAL SCIENCES)
ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute
Professor Leo Suryadinata is a social scientist. He is currently Visiting Senior Fellow, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute (Singapore), and Professor (Adj.), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
He served as Director, the Chinese Heritage Centre (Singapore, 2006-2013, NTU) and was a Professor in the Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore (NUS) before joining NTU.
He has edited two books on the Peranakan Chinese in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
ASSOCIATE PROF LIM BENG SOON (LINGUISTICS)
Singapore University of Social Sciences
Associate Professor Lim Beng Soon is the Head of Malay Language and Literature at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
His main areas of research are Pragmatics, in particular Malay and English politeness and spoken discourse, Translation and Contact Language in particular Baba Malay and Penang Peranakan Hokkien. Prior to joining SUSS he was Associate Professor at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur.
ASSISTANT PROF SENG GUO-QUAN (HISTORY)
National University of Singapore
Seng Guo-Quan is Assistant Professor of History at the National University of Singapore. He researches the histories of the Chinese overseas, colonial and postcolonial Southeast Asia, and global capitalism.
He is currently completing a book manuscript on race, family and gender in the making of Peranakan Chinese identity in Dutch colonial Indonesia.
NYONYA JOSEPHINE CHIA (PERANAKAN AUTHOR)
Nyonya Josephine Chia is an award-winning author who has won Literary awards and prizes in UK and Singapore. She writes both fiction and non-fiction about her Peranakan heritage and her impoverished kampong(village) upbringing.
Her non-fiction book, Kampong Spirit Gotong Royong (Life in Potong Pasir, 1955 to 1965) won the Singapore Literature Prize in 2014. Josephine has published twelve books. She nurtures aspiring writers through workshops and mentorship programmes.
MODERATOR
NYONYA DAWN MARIE LEE
Editor, THE PERANAKAN magazine
Nyonya Dawn Marie Lee is a former journalist who now helms THE PERANAKAN, an award-winning, volunteer-run magazine published by The Peranakan Association Singapore.
The magazine celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2019. Every issue of the not-for-profit publication is packed with insightful heritage and lifestyle features, valuable information, learning opportunities and other relevant topics that keep readers in touch with the rich Peranakan culture.
Its aim is to promote and preserve the cultural heritage of Peranakans worldwide. In 2018, the magazine clinched the title of Special Interest Media of the Year at the Media Publishers Association Singapore Awards.
Organised by The Peranakan Association Singapore
Bookings
This event is fully booked.