What is the Nyonya culture in Singapore?

The term Nyonya comes from the term Baba Nyonya. The so-called Baba Nyonya refers to two groups, Baba is a group and Nyonya is a group. Baba Nyonya is actually a phonetic translation of the Chinese character, Baba refers to men and Nyonya refers to women. The women who are called Nyonya mainly refer to the women who were born to the local Malays, or the local Malacca people, by the Chinese in the early days.

01, from a term of reference to a culture.

In fact, the identity of the Baba Nyonya group of people has been changing throughout history. Until the 1960s, they were considered the indigenous people of Malaysia, but then, due to political reasons, they lost their indigenous status, and today, they are no different from the newcomers who came to this land after the 19th century.

In fact, in the early days, the term Nyonya was used to refer to the female descendants of the Chinese and Malays who married together. It was only later that the term developed into a generalized reference to the culture of the Chinese and Malays after they merged. From a cultural point of view, the term Nyonya does not refer to a single culture. It encompasses many aspects, including the food culture, the living culture, and the marriage culture that emerged from the integration of the Malays and the Chinese.

02. It is a peculiar culture that has emerged from the intermingling of the populations.

In fact, it is very complicated to explore what Nyonya culture is. Because in Nyonya culture, it not only has the figure of Malay culture, but also has the figure of traditional Chinese culture. This culture is formed through the fusion of the two cultures and their mutual influences. It is not only limited to a certain part of the culture, but in many places, many cultures have been influenced by the exchange of these two cultures. For example, local songs and dances, local embroidery, local costumes and local food have all been influenced by the exchange of the two cultures.

From the perspective of food culture, the food produced under the Nyonya culture has the characteristics of Chinese cuisine and the flavor of Southeast Asian cuisine. Therefore, we will find that in the local area, we can taste the fried pork slices, bamboo shoots and stewed pork and other Southeast Asian dishes with Chinese food culture characteristics. This is a culinary fusion under the influence of Nyonya culture. In addition to food, careful observation also reveals that the local traditional dress culture and the local traditional embroidery culture are, to a certain extent, more or less influenced by the traditional Chinese culture.

Even in the marriage culture, they have certain similarities with the traditional Chinese marriage culture, and also pay attention to the family. Therefore, it can be seen that in the early days, those who have certain power in the local area, they often choose to intermarry in the same situation of the family for intermarriage, marriage. The dress of the bride and groom is very similar to the traditional Chinese dress. The groom wears a long robe and waistcoat, and the bride wears a dress and a phoenix crown. And before the Second World War, the local wedding culture still continues to three kneeling nine kowtow, with a large sedan chair, drums and drums in the sky such as the traditional Chinese wedding form.