Keeping the Culture Alive
– A unique celebration of Peranakan Culture and the Written Word
This is the second edition of the Baba Nyonya Literary Festival by The Peranakan Association Singapore which aims to showcase the written works of both Peranakan and non-Peranakan writers to propagate Peranakan culture.
The inaugural festival, which took place on 20 and 21 July in 2019, was sold out on both days.
The festival returns this year, bigger and better. Firstly, the festival is proud to be the recipient of a grant from the National Arts Council. Secondly, the festival is honoured to count as partners our sister associations in Melaka, Malaysia, Persatuan Peranakan Cina Melaka and Persatuan Peranakan Baba Nyonya Malaysia, and also in Melaka, the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum and the Bendahari, a cultural and creative hub.
This year, the two-day festival will be a physical cum virtual event. Tickets are available for sale now. To purchase tickets, please visit the ticketing agent, Peatix at https://babanyonyaliteraryfestival.peatix.com/
The programme for the festival is as follows:
DAY 1 (19 March)
DAY 2 (20 March)
DAY 1
Chan Eng Thai will enthrall and thrill in equal proportions by reciting a pantun or two.
Seasoned Peranakan cooks who have perfected the art of combining pragmatism with passion discuss how they use modern techniques to cook heritage recipes.
Sylvia Tan will refer to “The Modern Nonya Table” to illustrate how she updates family heritage recipes by dispensing with tedious techniques without compromising on the flavours.
Matthew Lloyd Tan will discuss the food that babas and noynyas of old ate for their daily meals that call for the use of cooking methods of today by reading from “More Daily Nonya Dishes” (will be published before the festival).
Lee Geok Boi will discuss modern and traditional techniques used in cooking iconic dishes from the Straits-born community, including Eurasians, Chetti Melakans, Indonesian Chinese, Malays and Indonesians that became family favourites through the generations by drawing from “In a Straits-Born Kitchen”.
This panel discussion will be moderated by Christopher Tan, award-winning writer, cooking instructor and photographer.
Christopher Tan will share the Malay origins of Peranakan kueh from “The Way of Kueh: Savouring & Saving Singapore’s Heritage Desserts”. His book won Book of the Year and Best Illustrated Non-Fiction Title at the Singapore Book Awards in 2020.
Khir Johari will read from “The Food of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels Through the Archipelago” which explores the influences of geography, history and cultures on Malay cuisine.
This panel discussion will be moderated by Aziza Ali, chef and writer of cookbooks.
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Desmond Sim will read from “The Chair” and “Postcards from Rosa”.
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Sanjay Kuttan will read from “Where Fires Rage” and “In One Breath”. His anthologies reflect his consciousness of the world we live in. As a privileged witness to both the brutality and beauty that surround us, he has sought to grapple with his paradox of human existence through poems. They are an honest and emotional record of his reactions to events, simply and dramatic, both at home and abroad.
End of Day 1
DAY 2
Peranakan womenfolk are famous for their penchant for fashion and jewellery and will surely be delighted by the following panel.
Christine Ong Kiat Neo will share tips on matching kebayas with sarongs by drawing from her book, “Nyonya Kebaya: Peranakan Heritage Fashion”.
Norman Cho and Chris Loh will provide valuable insights into the significance of the jewellery culture for Peranakans by reading from “The Bejewelled Lives of the Peranakans”.
You are encouraged to bring along your sarong kebayas and jewellery for the panellists to discuss their origins.
This panel discussion will be moderated by Raymond Wong, owner of Rumah Kim Choo, kebaya designer, and embroiderer.
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Singapore’s past is given a deft touch in historical fiction and non-fiction featuring colourful Peranakan personalities.
Josephine Chia will read from “When a Flower Dies” which chronicles a Peranakan girl’s experiences in love in colonial Singapore in the 1940s.
Walter Woon will read from “The Devil’s Circle” which documents the life of Baba Dennis Chiang after the Japanese Occupation at the end of World War II when Singapore returned to British rule. The drama series, ‘This Land is Mine”, which aired locally in August 2021 is loosely adapted from this book.
Robert Yeo will read from “Routes: A Singaporean Memoir 1940–75” which is both a personal and public memoir; it is personal as it records part of Robert Yeo’s life for the first thirty-five years, and it is public as it follows his response to some of the tumultuous events of the period at the local, regional and international levels.
This panel discussion will be moderated by Shawn Seah, civil servant and writer of three books on Singapore community stories.
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Allow yourself to fall in love with the nostalgic past by listening to romantic tales on the bygone lifestyles of Peranakans.
Genevieve Peggy Jeffs, granddaughter of the late Queeny Chang, writer of her autobiography “Memories of a Nonya”, will introduce you to the genteel life her grandmother led in the charming early 1900s in Indonesia as recorded in the book.
Irene Lim, writer of “90 Years in Singapore” (with contributions by Loh Kah Seng and Linda Lim) will, together with Loh Kah Seng, recount nine decades of her life as a Straits Chinese in Singapore as documented in the book.
Ruth Chia, Linda Kow and Soh Tiang Keng will narrate the story of more than seven generations of Straits Chinese, from Chia Ann Siang’s grandfather’s emigration from Fujian to Malacca in 1774, right up to the present day by reading from “Chia Ann Siang and Family: The Tides of Fortune”.
This panel discussion will be moderated by Kenneth Chan, Baba Malay writer and language teacher.
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Kenneth Chan, the writer of “Chrita-Chrita Baba”, a collection of short fiction adapted and drawn from old Southeast Asian folklore and written in both Baba Malay and English, will read from it in Baba Malay.
End of Day 2
Our guest of honour will be General Winston Choo.
Books by the writers and moderators will be available for sale at the festival.
The festival will be held on 19 and 20 March 2022 from 1 to 4pm at National Library Building, The Pod (Level 16), 100 Victoria Street, Singapore 188064.
If you have any queries, please contact Ms Ngiam May Ling at 9741 0610 or via e-mail at babanyonyalitfest@gmail.com.