Peranakan Museum: What I Learned

B knows some of the people who donated stuff to the museum, so that was interesting. I think it would be cool to be asked to donate your items to a museum, knowing that it will be preserved.

The one thing I learnt was that there are Indian Peranakans. I had no idea because I was under the assumption that there were only Chinese Peranakans. That was cool to learn.

In the very first room at the lobby of the museum, there is a room with portraits of Peranakan Singaporeans and the whole visit felt very personal as these were all items donated by fellow Singaporeans. It must have been nice to be part of this whole project. I think it’s also nice to be part of a rare and unique culture.

There were photos from the present and the past.  The Indian Peranakans seemed to be a real mix of the various nationalities of Singapore – Indian, Malay and Chinese.

photo by bookjunkie

photo by bookjunkie

photo by bookjunkie

photo by bookjunkie

photo by bookjunkie

photo by bookjunkie

There is also a wonderful movie presentation which explains the origins of the Peranakans who are a true mix of ethnicities in South East Asia.  It’s a great story of a people who essentially non-ethnocentric and were willing to assimilate, adopt and adapt. Traders who visited South East Asia from China and India fell in love with and married the local women and the history goes much further back than I imagined.

About bookjunkie

Blogging about life in Singapore & recently cancer too.
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3 Responses to Peranakan Museum: What I Learned

  1. whatsaysyou says:

    Totally awesome, bookjunkie. Thank you so much for sharing those Peranakan pictures. You must have had a great time in the museum and I wish I could go in there for myself. Singapore is so lucky to have a Peranakan Museum. Keep up what you are doing 🙂

  2. Pingback: Singapore in a Week: My Wandering Feasting Checklist | Singapore Actually

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