Am I a Peranakan Baba?
  • Vote Up0Vote Down AdaBoyAdaBoy December 2008
    Posts: 3
    Hi Everyone,

    Was just wondering how do we define the modern day Peranakan? I'm officially a Chinese but my great-grandmother and grandmother on my maternal side were Nonyas. My grandmother married a Catholic Chinese when she was still young and hence adopted all the Chinese practices. Likewise, my mum married a Chinese and never got the opportunity to learn the full spectrum of Peranakan traditions, language and the like. Our family is also Christian. I used to have people asking whether I was pure Chinese/Singapore pretty often when I was young and my mum would say that it happened to her when she was young too (everyone mistook her for a Malay girl).

    So question being: Am I still considered a Peranakan? Or has the heritage been 'diluted out' as a second generation non-pure Peranakan descendant? Coz I do have quite a few friends (about 5 of them) who happen to be in the same situation as me.

    Any forumers care to clarify this genetic mix-up?
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  • Vote Up0Vote Down oysteroyster January 2009
    Posts: 19
    Hi
    Does it matter to be a Baba or a Nyonya? After the tv serials on "Little Nyonya" suddenly there is a surge of identity finding. Before this programme, the Chinese community has been despising the Peranakans for being OCBC (orang cina bukan cina) as the Peranakan Chinese are folks who simply could not speak poor Mandarin.
    So if you are a Baba or Nyonya, so be it. If not we are still Singaporeans. Give another year, the Peranakans may be forgotten again and even despised for being OCBC.

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