Chinese Peranakans in Southeast Asia are proof there can be gains amid cultural loss
- Ethnic Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia fret about their heritage. Centuries of migration from and to China show assimilation has upsides
When someone says they are going to Phuket, a reel in your head starts playing images of beautiful beaches, seawater so clear you can see your toes, that gorgeous bay with the limestone karsts whose name you cannot recall, and humans of all shapes and colours laid out in the sand.
We steered clear of all that on a recent weekend in Phuket. Instead, we explored the island’s Old Town, which I have long known about but never visited.
For visitors from Malaysia and Singapore, Phuket Old Town looks very much like home with its rows of shophouses and townhouses that feature the “five-foot way”, the street-facing, sheltered walkway essential for the tropical climate of Southeast Asia, and ubiquitous in the two countries.
Also familiar is Phuket’s Chinese Peranakan, or Baba Nyonya, cuisine, albeit with a touch of southern Thailand. We had a few delicious Baba Nyonya meals at a couple of beautifully appointed restaurants, the highlight of which was moo hong, a soy-sauce-braised pork belly dish that is similar, if not identical, to Singapore and Malaysia’s babi pongteh.
For many, Singapore, Malacca and Penang, the main constituents of the former British colony of the Straits Settlements, are the centres of Chinese Peranakan communities, the descendants of early Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia who assimilated – through intermarriage or acculturation – with the local population.