Baba Gabra
Baba Gabra is a non-profit organisation dedicated to revitalising Peranakan culture through creativity and innovation. Founded by a collective of passionate young Babas, the organisation curates experiences, both digital and physical, that blend tradition with modernity—demonstrating that Peranakan culture is not outdated but instead adaptable and timeless.
Through events, immersive experiences, digital content, videos, and the archiving of Peranakan-related activities, Baba Gabra offers fresh cultural insights that make the heritage accessible and relevant. By embracing the past as an integral part of the future, Baba Gabra strives to ensure the enduring legacy of the Baba Nyonya community continues to thrive.
Josephine Chia
Nyonya Josephine “Phine” Chia is a prolific author with 16 published books and more in the pipeline. Her latest offering is Merdeka Generation Groovers (July 2025) about what it was like for this generation, the majority of whom had to struggle in poor conditions in the days of pre-independent Singapore. And then how in contemporary times, some of them must cope with being without their children who have settled overseas. One of the stories is called A Buah Keluak Tale.
She won the Singapore Literature Prize (2014) for Kampong Spirit/Gotong Royong, Potong Pasir 1955 to 1965, the Singapore Publishers Book Award (2019) for Big Tree in a Small Pot. Her recent book, Ayam Buah Keluak and the Art of Writing (November 2024),made it to the Kinokuniya Best Seller List and Sunday Times Best Seller list.
Lee Yuen Thien
Melaka-based Lee Yuen Thien is a fifth generation Baba and manager of the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum Melaka. Passionate about his own heritage, he is very much involved with the Baba & Nyonya associations in Melaka and is the vice-president of Persatuan Peranakan Baba Nyonya Malaysia.
Dr Noreen Chan
Noreen Chan is a sixth-generation Singapore Peranakan (seventh on the Melaka side) who used to write for the Association’s magazine in the early 2000s, mainly for Dalam Dapor. After a too-long break, she is excited to resume sharing her love of her culture and heritage with a new generation of readers.
Dr Ong Jin Teong
Dr Ong Jin Teong is a retired professor from the Nanyang Technological University’s College of Engineering. He obtained his PhD from Imperial College. He is currently a consultant in wireless engineering and in nyonya heritage food as well as heritage related to food. He has extensively researched and written books and articles about Penang heritage food and nyonya cuisines. He lectures, photographs, runs the occasional supper clubs and conducts classes on
cooking and heritage related to food. He is the author of award-winning books, Nonya Heritage Kitchen: Origins, Utensils, Recipes and Penang Heritage Food: Yesterday’s Recipes for Today’s Cook. His recently published The Tastes of Home – Easy-to-Cook Dishes from Singapore and Malaysia was awarded the Best of Best 1995-2025 – Food Culture at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Lisbon 2025.
Baba Alvin Tan
Alvin is the Founder and the Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage. He was also the Artistic Director of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. Alvin has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, the Young Artist Award (1998) and the Cultural Medallion (2014). In 2010, he was conferred the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. He has recently started exploring his Peranakan heritage to fuel contemporary theatre and is hoping to collaboratively create a Southeast Asian regional touring Peranakan theatre festival.