Inspired by my family’s recent involvements with the Peranakan Museum in Singapore, the resurgence of awareness of Peranakan culture thanks to a local TV series, and finally prompted, as a blogger-supporter of Yesterday.sg to participate in the Purely Peranakan contest, I might very well start writing about what being Peranakan means to me.
This page shall serve as a placeholder for my series of essays. Because I’m quite certain a single blog post is not quite enough.
I was fortunate to gain a sneak preview of the new exhibition at the Peranakan Museum along Armenian Street, courtesy of the curator. My family donated some items so we were given a private tour.
We often hear about Peranakan cuisine but seldom delve deep into Peranakan culture and history. At the museum, we saw artefacts that we never even knew existed. I will not post any photos here, because I’d rather encourage people to visit the museum instead.
Check out the pottery, jewellery, baju (clothing) and beaded articles. The Peranakans bead everything! Some items I felt could be converted to modern-day TV remote control holders and iPod cases (particularly the latter - maybe it will be a new fashion statement). There are also a few brilliant pieces of embroidery which other museums in the world are interested in, so that’s something to be proud of.