Baba House at Neil Road

The Baba House at Neil Road celebrates a little of our past. It is nice that we've got a number of these small museums scattered all over Singapore now. A gift by Tan Cheng Lock's daughter Agnes to NUS, the conserved property displays lovingly old furniture and photographs. Peranakan culture is fussy, gregarious, even noisy.

Peranakan culture should not be preserved as a fossil. It is a living heritage going through another cycle of decline and renewal. There was a period when peranakan culture seemed to be disappearing, with a younger generation learning Mandarin and losing their baba Malay. But as Singaporean Chinese realize that however good their Mandarin or knowledge of Chinese culture, we are still Southeast Asians living in a diverse region, Peranakan culture is enjoying a certain revival. Peranakan culture is self-consciously Chinese and Southeast Asian.

Of course, new and old Chinese have their prejudices against each other. For my mum who was from China, being baba was to lose one's culture. For many babs, the sinkehs were country bumpkins. With the reemergence of China, however, the dynamics have changed.

It would be nice for us to reestablish some of the old links of the Straits Settlements. Tan Cheng Lock was of course from Malacca and he and his son, Tan Siew Sin, played a major role in establishing the MCA as a key player in Malayan/Malaysian politics. At the opening of the Baba House, there was a delegation from the peranakan association of Penang.

But no pernankan function is complete without food, glorious food. The food at the opening night did not disappoint. Burp.

George Yeo

Comments

[Edwin T Y Yeo]

When one mentions Peranakan culture, one must invariably mention Melaka and the Straits Settlement in the same breath. The almost universality of the Peranakan culture on both sides of the causeway brings to light just how close the 2 countries are in terms of heritage, and yet, from today's perspective, we are so far apart. This is the paradox of our times.

If even Singaporeans and Malaysians find difficulty to reconcile differences against a backdrop of seemingly obvious commonalities, I wld really be skeptical about the chances of success of a true ASEAN integration.

In the past, I have been asking for a clear justification for the push for integration, not because I do not know the answer, but because I wanted to hear it from the Government. Are we desperate for it? Is Singapore's survivability dependent on it? Will we be necessarily worse-off without it, or definitely better off with it? And why now?

The recent political turmoil in Malaysia and Thailand emphasises the problems that we face in the region. I just hope that Singapore does not get drawn into these problems when we become an integral member of an intergrated region. At the same time, there needs to be political will and awakening from our friends in the other ASEAN countries to realise that there is a bigger issue than just whether the Prime Minister can cook up a good meal on TV.

I hope we do not need to have to suffer a Asian-wide crisis just to have a regional leader emerge to move this region forward.

Ed

[arthur]

Ed: real-politik is a bummer indeed. But there are also the other economic, political & cultural realities of trade and religious networks, political alliances & patronages etc which is Southeast Asia as seen in the works of Leonard Andaya, Anthony Reid, Thongchai Winichakul etc that need to be taken into consideration. These linkages, memories & conceptions of community preceed, transcend and at times disrupt the modern nation-state.

I also believe that only history will tell whether the current political situation in Malaysia & Thailand are ‘turmoils’ or are they part of an on-going process of nation-building which is a complex business that entwines colonialism (e.g. ethnic politics in Malaysia) and modernization (e.g. democracy in Thailand). Especially more so for populations which exceed 4 million people.

And I am almost certain that the Malaysians and Thai people are politically more mature and savvy than Singaporeans like U & I can ever be, only because they have been shaped by their particular habitus & histories. And I believe that they will rise to the occasion.