PERANAKAN BABA NYONYA

In the 15th century, some small city-states of the Malay Peninsula often paid tribute to various kingdoms such as those of China and Siam . Close relations with China were established in the early 15th century during the reign of Parameswara when Admiral Zheng He ( Cheng Ho), a Muslim Chinese, visited Malacca and Java. According to a legend in 1459 CE, the Emperor of China sent a princess, Hang Li Po , to the Sultan of Malacca as a token of appreciation for his tribute. The nobles (500 sons of ministers) and servants who accompanied the princess initially settled in Bukit Cina and eventually grew into a class of Straits-born Chinese known as the Peranakans.

Due to economic hardships at mainland China, waves of immigrants from China settled in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Some of them embraced the local customs, while still retaining some degree of their ancestral culture; they are known as the Peranakans. Peranakans normally have a certain degree of indigenous blood, which can be attributed to the fact that during imperial China, most immigrants were men who married local women. Peranakans at Tangerang, Indonesia, held such a high degree of indigenous blood that they are almost physically indistinguishable from the local population. Peranakans at Indonesia can vary between very fair to copper tan in color.

Peranakans themselves later on migrated between Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, which resulted in a high degree of cultural similarity between Peranakans in those countries. Economic / educational reasons normally propel the migration between of Peranakans between the Nusantara region (Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore), their creole language is very close to the indigenous languages of those countries, which makes adaptations a lot easier.

For political reasons Peranakans and other Nusantara Chinese are grouped as a one racial group, Chinese, with Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia becoming more adoptive of mainland Chinese culture, and Chinese in Indonesia becoming more diluted in their Chinese culture. Such things can be attributed to the policies of Bumiputera (Malaysia), mother tongue policy (Singapore) and the ban of Chinese culture during the Soeharto era in Indonesia

about Malay(Traditional games)

Traditional Malay games usually require craft skills and manual dexterity and can be traced their origins since Malacca Sultanate . Sepak Raga and kite flying are among traditional games that were mentioned in the Malay Annals being played by nobilities and royalties of Malacca Sultanate .A Wau -maker's workshop in Kelantan , Malaysia . Sepak Raga (now known as Sepak Takraw ) is one of the most popular Malay games and has been played for centuries. Traditionally, Sepak raga was played in circle by kicking and keeps aloft the rattan ball using any part of the body except the arms and hands. It is now recognized as Malaysia ’s national sport and played in the international sporting events such as Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games . Other popular game is top spinning which usually played after the harvest season. A great skill of craftsmanship is required to produce the most competitive Gasing(top), some of which spin for two hours at a time

Possibly the most popular Malay games is the flying of kite or Wau (a unique kind of kite from east coast of Malay peninsular). Wau-flying competitions take place with judges awarding points for craftsmanship ( Wau are beautiful, colourful objects set on bamboo frames), sound (all Malay kites are designed to create a specific sound as they are buffeted about in the wind) and altitude .The Malays also have a variant of Mancala board game known as Congkak (from Malay word Congak, literally means " mental calculation "). The game is played by moving stones, marbles, beads or shells around a wooden board consisting of twelve or more holes. Mancala is acknowledged as the oldest game in the world and can be traced its origin since Ancient Egypt . As the game dispersed around the globe, every culture has invented its own variation including the Malays

baba nyonya-wedding ceremony

indian-wedding ceremony

In Malaysia are a number of religions and faiths practiced by a majority of Malaysians such as Islam primarily amongst the Malays, Buddhism amongst the Chinese, Hinduism amongst the Indians, and Christianity amongst the Sabah and Sarawak natives, Chinese, Indians, Kristang people, and Eurasians of British descent. In the Indian communities which compose of Tamils, Telugus, Malayalees, Punjabis, Bengalis, Gujaratis, and Sindhis reside a number of faiths.


From Chinese sources, both Hinduism and Buddhism has been in existence in the Malay Peninsula dating from the second century A.D. Indianized kingdoms such as Kadaram (Old Kedah), and Ilangosagam (Langkasuka) have practiced Hinduism and Buddhism during the rule of the Malay-Sri Vijaya and Tamil-Chola kingdoms.[7] Islam found its way to the Malayan Peninsula as well as the Archipelago of Indonesia not from Arabia, but from southern India, specifically, Tamil country.[5] The early Indians married into leading Indonesian families and brought Hindu ideas of kingship, just as more than a thousand years later the Tamil Muslims married into the families of the Sultans and Bendaharas of Malacca.

Trade contacts between the Tamils and Arabs & between the Tamils and East Indies antedate the Islamic period (circa 570-632 A.D.), or the birth of Islam. Indonesians and Malays came to know about Islam through the Muslim merchants of south India and not through Arab missionaries. Furthermore Islam had reached South India, particularly Tamil country in the 8th century A.D., while the state of Gujurat received Islam during the early 14th century, as a result of the invasion of the Delhi sultanate. Muslim traders of the Coromandel Coast are said to have been even politically influential in historical Malaya.[5] In 1445 A.D. Tamil Muslim traders staged a coup at Malacca, installing a sultan of their choice.[8] During the coming of Islam to Malaysia was the early decline of Hinduism and Buddhism.


The practice of Hinduism began to rise during the second wave of people from the Indian subcontinent during British rule. Hinduism is the most practised religion amongst the Tamils comprising of the both the major Hindu and Tamil pantheon of deities. Tamils of both Indian and Sri Lankan backgrounds practice Hinduism. Telugus predominantly belong to the Vaisnavite branch of Hinduism, with a minority among them belonging to Christianity and Islam. Amongst the North Indians are the Gujarati, Sindhi, Bengali, and Punjabi Hindus


Christianity is prevalent and growing amongst the Tamil people in many denominations. Christianity has been in Tamilakkam or the Tamil country since the times of St. Thomas, an apostle of Christ. After him, came the Portuguese who introduced Catholicism, then the British who introduced the Protestant denominations. In Malaysia, most of the Christians are Methodist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Plymouth Brethren (Christian Brethren of Malaysia), and Catholic. Amongst the Malayalee community Catholicism is strong.


Islam is the religion of roughly 10% of Malaysian Indians with a population of roughly 200,000.


Sikhism is practiced amongst the Punjabis. (The majority of Punjabis are Muslims in South Asia with significant Sikh and Hindu populations.)

bidayuh people

Bidayuhs are traditionally animist , and vestiges of these beliefs still remain. The British colonial times (known as the Brooke family era) saw the arrival of Christian missionaries, bringing education and modern medicine. The great majority of Bidayuh are now Christians, majority of them being Roman Catholic.

Most Bidayuh villages have either a Roman Catholic or Anglican church or a mosque -- rarely more than one or the village would tend to split. The Biatah people, who live in the Kuching area, are Anglican, while the people of the Bau area are Catholic.

The Bidayuh of Bau have a unique tradition of hanging the bodies of the dead on trees and leaving them to rot away. The skeletons are left on trees as a reminder of the dead. The tradition is rarely done nowadays.

1Malaysia(Races In Malaysia-Kenyah)

a family of kenyah

Culture And Ceremony...

The Kenyah people, traditionally being swidden agriculturalists and living in long houses (uma dado'), is an umbrella term for over 40 sub-groups that mostly share common migration histories, customs and related dialects. Kenyah people lived in long houses in a small communities. Each long house consists of families who choose their own leader (headman). When they have any event or celebration such as harvest festival they will normally use the long house verandah (oseh bi'o) to gather and deliver speeches to guide their youngsters. Normally this harvest festival celebration (tau bio Ramay o o Ajau, pelepek uman) is a major festival because most of them are still farmers.

Religion Of Kenyah...

Almost all Kenyah people are Christian. Before they became Christian they believed in 'Bungan Malan Peselong Luan' (a traditional form of animism). But now there are only a small number of Kenyah people that still believe in Bungan. When they die they believe they go to Alo Malau (heaven) with their ancestors (tepun).

About Kenyah People...

The Kenyah people are an indigenous,Austronesian-speaking people of Borneo, living in the remote Baram (Lio Mato, Long Selaan, Long Moh, Long Mekaba, Long Jeeh, Long Belaong, Long San, Long Silat, Long Tungan and etc), Data Kakus, Data Surau,Sg. Senep, Long Dungan, Long Busang, Long Beyak, Bintulu, Miri, Sungai ASAP, Long Bulan, Long Jawe and Belaga regions in Sarawak,Malaysia and the remote Apau Kayan, Bahau (Bau), Benua Lama & Baru and Mahakam regions in East Kalimantan,Indonesia.

Kenyah people are divided into various tribes including the Uma Bakah, Lepo Anan, Lepo Tau, Lepu Jalan, Lepo' Tepu, Uma Kelap, Badeng (Jamok, Lepo Aga'), Bakung, Kayan, Penan, Lepu Kulit, Uma Alim, Uma Timai, Uma Lasan, Lepo Ma-ot, Sambop, Lepo Ke', Lepo Ngao, Ngurek, Kiput, Long Ulai, Long Tikan, Long Sabatu, Lepo Ga, Lepo Dikan, and Lepo Pua.

RACES IN MALAYSIA(CHINESE)

There exist some degrees of differences in the Malaysian Chinese culture compared to that of China . Some traditional festivals celebrated by the Chinese community in Malaysia are no longer celebrated in China after the Chinese Cultural Revolution . This is especially true of regional rites and rituals that are still celebrated by the Malaysian descendants of the peasant migrants from China. Some have attributed the traditional practices of Malaysian Chinese to "a little backwater of Chinese culture as it was in China 80 years ago" [38 ] .

There are also significant differences in the way the Chinese language is spoken among the Chinese community in Malaysia. One notable example is how the Minnan or Hokkien dialect is spoken in Penang and even in parts of Indonesia like Medan . The variant spoken is influenced by Malay and English vocabulary and forms and is commonly referred to as Penang Hokkien