Malacca Traditional arts and crafts

                  Malacca Traditional Arts And Crafts

Nyonya Beaded Slippers

Beaded slippers, also known as kasut manek-manek are a must have for the Straits-born women known as Peranakan Cina or Nyonya. It is a unique traditional arts and crafts to the Malaccan. These shoes are worn during formal occasions like weddings and special functions. The materials used include silk cloth, gold thread and multi coloured beads.

Wooden Clogs

From an era long gone by, these traditional clogs called“terompah“ were usually worn within the confines of the home. In Melaka town today, clog makers still hand made these pieces of footwear in a variety of sizes, colours and designs, with an addition of low or high heeled.
The wood used for the terompah base is usually senduk (Endospermum Malaccese), mahang (Macaranga sp.) while the top cover can be made from plastics or canvas.
The traditional Nyonya women preferred metal knobs. In some cases they use silver to give a dainty look to their footware. Each clog had a screwed-in metal knob instead of the rubber bands over ordinary clogs.

Bound Feet Shoes

Feet binding tradition begins during the Ching Dynasty in China. Young girls at the age of four and of noble lineage were subjected to this tradition. The bandages were only unwrapped when the feet were washed with “min fan“ a Chinese medicine. These girls were not allowed to perform any menial task as their tiny feet were considered the trade mark of beauty at that time. Today the custom made miniature shoes measuring 3 inches in length can be found at Jalan Tokong.

Drums

The kompang or gendang are two types of local drums. These drums are one of the Malay community’s traditional musical instruments. The kompang is the most popular drum that can be seen and heard! You could find it being beaten enthusiastically by youngsters at Malay weddings and official ceremonies. Drums are normally made from goat skin, which has been soaked, dried and cured. Then, the dried skin is stretched over local wood to create this unique musical instrument.

Spinning Tops or Gasing

Top spinning (main gasing) is a game that requires strength, precise timing and dexterity. This is a game played by men as it requires energy to spin the tops. It used to be the main pastime activity in the villages or “kampongs“. Definitely not children’s toys, a gasing or spinning top can weigh up to ten pounds and can be sometimes as large as a dinner plate.
However, nowadays there are smaller sized tops available for children that would like to try this traditional activity.

Congkak

This is a traditional game played by the women. In olden days, the women spend their free time playing this game while waiting for their husbands to come home from wars. Congkak is played by 2 players only and is made of wood.
Sometimes, the women can also dig holes in the sand to play this game. Normally they will dig the congkak holes beneath their houses.

Chinese Calligraphy

Chinese calligraphy is an oriental art and very much like a painting. The difference is that it uses Chinese characters to “express“ the spiritual world of the artist. If you do not know the Chinese Characters, no problem, just treat it as an art and simply look at them for enjoyment.
Aside as a practical technique for writing Chinese Characters, Chinese Calligraphy is rich in content and serves as important part of Chinese culture as it is being used largely in the Chinese community in different form and medium for their traditional arts and crafts. More on Chinese Calligraphy. 

Peranakan Wedding

                                    Peranakan Wedding  

Marriage

A Peranakan bride and bridegroom in Salatiga, Indonesia circa 1918.

It was not uncommon for early Chinese traders to take Malay women from Peninsular Malaya or Sumatra as wives or concubines^[11]
Consequently, the Baba Nyonya possessed a synergistic mix of Sino-Malay cultural traits.^[11]
Written records from the 19th and early 20th centuries show that Peranakan men usually took brides from within the local Peranakan community. Peranakan families occasionally imported brides from China and sent their daughters to China to find husbands.
Marriages within the community and of similar stature were the norm during that time. Wealthy men prefigured to marry a chin choay: or matrilocal marriage where husband moved in with wife's family.^[11]
Proposals of marriage were made by a gift of a pinangan, in a 2-tiered lacquered basket known as Bakul Siah in Malaysia or Tenong Keranjang in Indonesia, to the intended bride's parents brought by a go-between who speaks on behalf of the suitor. There are rare cases where wealthy Peranakans in the past used highly decorative glided pagoda trays (Botekan Candi in Indonesian) instead of the Bakul Siah or Tenong Keranjang. Most Peranakans are not Muslim, and have retained the traditions of ancestor worship of the Chinese, though some converted to Christianity.
The wedding ceremony of the Peranakan is largely based on Chinese tradition, and is one of the most colorful wedding ceremonies in Malaysia and Singapore. At weddings, the Dondang Sayang, a form of extempore rhyming song in Malay sung and danced by guests at the wedding party, was a highlight. Someone would begin a romantic theme which was carried on by others, each taking the floor in turn, dancing in slow gyrations as they sang. It required quick wit and repartee and often gave rise to laughter and applause when a particularly clever phrase was sung. The melodic accents of the Baba-Nonya and their particular turns of phrase lead to the charm of this performance.

Food

Further information: Peranakan cuisine

Ayam buah keluak, a traditional Peranakan dish.

From the Malay influence a unique "Nyonya" cuisine has developed using typical Malay spices. Examples are Chicken Kapitan, a dry chicken curry, and Inchi Kabin, a Nyonya version of fried chicken. Pindang bandeng is a common fish soup served in Indonesia during the Chinese New Year and so is a white round mooncake from Tangerang which is normally used during the Autumn Festival. Swikee Purwodadi is a Peranakan dish from Purwodadi, it is a frog soup dish.
Nyonya Laksa is a very popular dish in Singapore and Malacca, Malaysia while another variant called Asam Laksa is famous in Penang, Malaysia. Pongteh is also another popular and savoury dish of the Peranakan community. The main ingredient is onion, black mushroom (optional), chicken (at times pork is used instead of chicken, hence it's called Babi Pongteh) and fermented bean sauce. The Malaccan Nyonyas are well known for this dish.
Other dishes from the Peranakans in Kelantan includes Telur Kesum, Ayam Kerabu and Khau Jam are influenced by Chinese, Malay and Thai cuisine.
Besides that, Peranakans are also well known for a wide variety of traditional cakes (kueh or kue) such as Lepak Kacang, Ang Ku Kue (a black variant is called Kueh Ku Hitam), Kueh Tae / Nastar, Nyonya Bak Chang, Apom Balik (Peranakan's version closely resembles Indonesian's Serabi), Kueh Bakol, Tapae, Kueh Kochi, Kueh Bongkong, Rempah Udang, Pulot Enti, Kueh Gulong/Semprong (another variant is Kueh Kapit), Kueh Bolu, Galeng Galoh (also known as Seri Muka), Kueh Bangket and many more. Traditional kueh (or kue) are sometimes made in conjunction with festivals that the Peranakans celebrate. For example, Kueh Genggang (also commonly known as Kueh Lapis), is a type of multi layered cake, most often eaten during Chinese New Year to symbolize a ladder of continued prosperity.
A small number of restaurants serving Nyonya food can be found in Singapore; Penang and Malacca in Malaysia; and Jakarta, Semarang, Surabaya in Indonesia.

Religion

A Chinese temple in Makassar, Indonesia circa 1900-1920.

Most Peranakans generally subscribed to Chinese beliefs system such as Taoism, Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism. Just like the Chinese, the Peranakans also celebrate Lunar New Year, Lantern Festival and other Chinese festivals, while adopting the customs of the land they settled in, as well as those of their colonial rulers. There are traces of Portuguese, Dutch, British, Malay and Indonesian influences in Peranakan culture.^[11] A certain number of Peranakan families were and still are, Catholic. However in this modern society, many of young Peranakan community have been embracing Christianity. Most notably in Indonesia, a country with the most significant Peranakan where most of the Chinese are Christians.
Just like in any other cultures, the Peranakans still believe in pantang larang (meaning superstition) especially among the older generations. In some cases, quite a number the Peranakan's pantang larang are deemed too strict and complex. But today, most Peranakans no longer practice complex pantang larang in order to keep up with the modern times.

  

Clothing

Kebaya Nyonya, a traditional Peranakan attire.

The Peranakan retained most of their ethnic and religious origins (such as ancestor worshiper), but assimilated the language and culture of the Malays. The Nyonya's clothing, Baju Panjang (Long Dress) was adapted from the native Malay's Baju Kurung. It is worn with a batik sarong (batik wrap-around skirt) and 3 kerosang (brooches). Peranakan beaded slippers called Kasot Manek were a hand-made with much skill and patience: strung, beaded and sewn onto canvas with tiny faceted glass cut beads (known as Manek Potong) from Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic).
Traditional kasot manek design often have European floral subjects, with colors influenced by Peranakan porcelain and batik sarongs. They were made into flats or bedroom slippers. But from the 1930s, modern shapes became popular and heels were gradually added.
In Indonesia, the Peranakans develop their own kebaya, most notably kebaya encim, derived from the name encim or enci to refer to a married Chinese woman.^[23] Kebaya encim was commonly wore by Chinese ladies in Javan coastal cities with significant Chinese settlements, such as Semarang, Lasem, Tuban, Surabaya, Pekalongan and Cirebon. It marked differently from Javanese kebaya with its smaller and finer embroidery, lighter fabrics and more vibrant colors. They also developed their own batik patterns, which incorporate symbols from China. The kebaya enicm fit well with vibrant-colored kain batik pesisiran (Javan coastal batik), which incorporated symbols and motives from China; such as dragon, phoenix, peony and lotus. For the Baba they will wear baju lokchuan (which is the Chinese men full costume) but the younger generation they will wear just the top of it which is the long sleeved silk jacket with Chinese collar or the batik shirt.