Last Friday Class MM085-1 had a one day trip to Melacca for a project. First off, I have visit Melacca at least once every year for Chinese New Year which gives me the opportunity to discover more of the historical place and it's unique points in which i'll elaborate on that in the post.
This time around, I was to learn about the dying culture of Baba Nyonya which started out as a marriage and began to evolve from there. We visited the Baba Nyonya museum first thing we arrived. The host showed us it was to live in a typical Baba Nyonya house. The experience was interesting as i got to know more of my ancestry and how they lived their lifestyle back then.
For instance, i never knew that they had different guest rooms for business partners and family or guests. When the guests arrives at the house, they are welcomed into the guest room. The single women at home will then peep at the guest from the dark room. The Babas are originally the chinese business men that expanded their business here in Melacca at first and later got married to the local malay women here and that is how a new culture began. The wives adapt most of the husband's culture as the only culture that the husband followed was the method used when eating which is the use of hands to replace chopsticks.
During the tour however, there was a rather interesting topic that surfaced; which was about the common confusion between the malay women and their religion. The majority crowd would confuse that the Malays are Muslims, due to the laws stated in this country these days. They did not understand that Malays are not necessarily Muslims as it is only a race and it doesn't define their religion.
Their designs in furniture have an influence from Dutch, Malay and Chinese. There was however, an influence from superstitious beliefs that nails aren't allowed in their furniture at all as nails are only used during funerals when nailing the coffin. The museum however had wooden carvings painted in gold and orange as a "theme". Here are the photos taken from a Peranakan restaurant in Melacca.
There was another difference between other states and Melacca i realized is the little cafes around Jonker Walk. Their layout; though small and a little bit congested, they have do give a welcoming and unique experience compared to the ones around the city life. One example of cafes around Jonker Walk would be Limau Limau Cafe. It is a cafe that provides drinks and meals in with comfortable environment with mini board games to hang around and spend quality time with loved ones and friends. They also provide a small guestbook for their guests to write any topic of sort. Here are some sample photos taken from the restaurant
