Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Baba Nyonya ~ Wedding Chamber



(Bridal Chamber ~ Postcard I bought from The Baba Nyonya Heritage in Melaka)

Baba and Nyonya are the descendants of Chinese from China who intermarried with local women. The men are known as the Babas and Women are Nyonyas. The Babas and Nyonyas are known as 'Peranakan' , they speak the Malay patois which is Malay mixed with Chinese phrases.


A traditional Baba Nyonya Wedding or Peranakan Wedding is loaded with complex rites preparations and numerous ceremonies which lasts up to 12-30 days for the riches! It’s a very tedious process (both in the preparations, time and money). Similar like their Chinese counterpart, the Peranakan put a great emphasis on choosing auspicious dates and times and even the furniture that incorporates lots of Chinese elements. However, their taboos are much more and strictly observed than the Chinese. 


* There were some differences between Baba Nyonya in Melaka (Malacca) and Penang, basically due to influences from the West (Holland and British) in those old days. 


The following are the mansions of the riches which has converted into a Museum 



48/50, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock
75200 Malacca. 
Malaysia.

29, Church Street, 
10200 Penang. 
Malaysia. 



1 comment:

Unknown said...

The Baba Nyonya Heritage place is an excellent place to visit. I was there a couple of years ago.I witnessed a peranakan wedding when I was a young girl at my god-sister's wedding.