Singapore – Peranakan Museum

We went to the Peranakan Museum because of its rich history of Peranakan people particularly in Singapore.

The term applies especially to the ethnic Chinese populations of the British Straits Settlements of Malaya and the Dutch-controlled island of Java and other locations, who have adopted partially or in full Nusantara customs to be somewhat assimilated into the local communities.

They were the elites of Singapore, more loyal to the British than to China.

Most have lived for generations along the straits of Malacca and not all intermarried with the local Native Indonesians and Malays.

They were usually traders, the middleman of the British and the Chinese, or the Chinese and Malays, or vice versa due to the fact that they were mostly English educated. Because of this, they almost always had the ability to speak two or more languages.

In later generations, some lost the ability to speak Chinese as they became assimilated to the Malay Peninsula’s culture and started to speak Malay fluently as a first or second language.

Source: Wikipedia

I couldn’t stop staring at the jewellery.

The hats were just.. wow. I can’t imagine how heavy they’d be on my head 🙂

About the Author

Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver. I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year. Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about my story here, or visit my other blog: The Everyday Minimalist.