Penang Peranakan Mansion - the Splendour of Days Gone By

I visited Penang two weeks ago and for the first time, visited the Pinang Peranakan Mansion.  Now, I have visited old Peranakan house museums before, but these were the traditional  courtyard houses.  Never before have I visited a true Peranakan mansion.  And I must say, it was indeed magnificent!

The Entrance Courtyard

The Penang Peranakan Mansion is the former home, it is said, of Chung Keng Kwee, a wealthy merchant or "Kapitan". Whilst not a Baba himself, he decorated his home in the lavish style of the wealthy Babas and Nonyas of the time.  Whilst the house fell at one point into disuse, it has now been restored and turned into a beautiful museum.  I don't intend to go into detail on the history of the mansion - for that, this website has quite a comprehensive write-up.  rather, I will just give some highlights of my own visit there.

We entered the mansion into a large, bright courtyard.  To the left, the main reception room; to the right, the dining room.  The grand staircase to the upper floors was right in front.  In the corners, there were a number of reception rooms, some probably for family use and others for formal receptions.  Many had family portraits staring down from the walls.  Beautiful statues, elaborate ornaments decorated the rooms - many European in origin, all the better to display the wealth of the homeowner.

The Long Table

I loved the dining area, with the long tok panjang running the length of the room.  Mirrors on the left and right walls of the dining room would allow someone sitting at the head of the table a view of the front door, and also staircase - a powerful position indeed. My aunt whispered to me that in the old days, the old Baba or Nonya would sit there to keep an eye on the family - to see if they could catch anyone doing anything funny!  On festive occasions, the table would be laden with dish after dish of yummy nonya goodies. Family members, starting with the oldest and most senior, would take turns to eat.  Whenever the food ran low, someone from the kitchen would come and top it up.  Such meals would be called "tok panjang", after the long table where the family comes together to eat.

[There is a kitchen at the back of the house,  but it was apparently closed  during the time of our visit for some function.  A pity - I like looking at old cooking implements!]

Kasut Manek tops

Around the house, there are a number of rooms housing collections of Peranakan items - beaded shoes and bags, kebayas, porcelain, jewellery and glass epergnes (there is one in the middle of the table above - it consists of a long vase, with smaller vases suspended from it, and baskets at the bottom to contain fruit.  As an aspiring kasut manek maker, I was of course very happy to see the many beaded shoes in the museum.  Despite their age, these shoes retain their vivid colours and intricate patterns.

The upper floor of the mansion is reserved for the family- their bedrooms, sewing room, etc.  Here, the decorations were simpler, and included (besides the collections) items which reflect the family's daily life.

Peranakan Wedding Bed

Of course, one of the exhibits which I paid extra attention to was the beautifully carved wedding bed, with its embroidered, brightly coloured hangings.  After all, was not family pride at stake?  Of course, it helped tremendously that I could look at this bed up close, without some perspex barrier keeping me away.  Having said that, my memory of my great-grandmother's bed was not that clear.  We had to flip through a book in the little souvenir shop downstairs to pick up the key difference -that my great-grandmother's bed had more open sides whilst this bed was more enclosed.

The glory days of the Peranakans are long over, living only in the memories of the older generations of Babas and Nonyas.  But in this glorious old mansion, with its store of antiques, we can catch a glimpse of those days gone by.

Additional photos here.

Celebrate with Sugee cake

I like setting myself little cooking "goals" - targets of what dishes to make and master.  For example, last year, I told myself I'd make some cheesecakes - which I did.  This year, I set my  sights on that Eurasian classic, sugee cake, the must-have dish at every Eurasian celebration.

Sugee cake has been featured on this blog before.  In fact for such an insignificant post (featuring a little picture of a half eaten cake), there have been a startling number of hits.  So I thought, that now I've got my cake-making experience to boast about, it was time to do an update.

Making a sugee cake is not easy.  First of all, the recipe.  Everyone  says their grandmother's/ mother's/ auntie's is the best.  I would never argue with any of them.  But what's important is to get the recipe for the sugee cake you like. Preferrably, one that doesn't use too many eggs (yes, it imparts richness to the cake but think of the cholesterol too!).  Second, this is not an easy cake to bake.  It is heavy and rich, and inclined to fall, as my first attempt did.  Technique and practice is important.

Fortunately for me, my cousin (the baker in my previous post) has a yummy cake recipe. She has also perfected her technique over time.  So I got her recipe.  And I got her to tutor me (this was after one previous round of doing it on my own ended with sunken sugee "brownies" rather than cakes). We chatted and baked one lazy Saturday afternoon.  Thanks to her help, I got beautifully light, golden cakes topped with almond flakes, which I brought for my granny's birthday party.  Lovely with a glass of sherry, in the true Eurasian style..

I spent some time also reading various sugee cake recipes online.  Whilst it is easy enough to search for them, I found two blogs which didn't just give the recipe, but also the story behind the recipe or a little more about Eurasian culture and heritage.  Here they are: 
- Cheryl's grandmother's recipe 
- Denise's recipe - she has beautiful step by step photos and also  a great background on sugee cake. 

Happy reading, baking and eating!

Following the Portuguese - to Macau

I visited Macau a few weeks ago.  Partly to see what a casino looks like (no, I did not gamble) and partly to also explore the shared heritage of Macau and South East Asia.  Colonised for many years by the Portuguese, I was curious to see whether there were similar cultural elements to be found between these two parts of Asia.

Senado Square

Indeed, there were cultural similarities aplenty.  Much reconstruction has taken place in the old city centre, and new buildings sprout up beside the old colonial buildings (or in some cases, a tall modern structure towers behind an older facade).  But walking through the streets around Senado Square, the distinctive look of the colonial style buildings were strangely familiar.  Marked by the arched doorways and deep verandas, the buildings would not have been out of place here in Singapore.

Interior of the Lou Kau Mansion

In the streets around the square,  still remain older buildings, with graceful columns holding up  small balconies with cast-iron railings - good vantage points to take in whatever was going on in the street below.  We also visited an old mansion,  the former residence of the family of Lou Kau, a Chinese businessman.  Whilst the facade was unremarkable, the courtyard-filled interior (see right) was very similar to the traditional peranakan houses here in South east Asia.

Drinking glasses, just like Grandma's!

 Away from the city centre, we also visited the five colonial houses which make up the Taipa Houses Museum.  The first house was supposed to represent a typical Macanese family home.  Indeed, it did have that distinctive look and feel of a Eurasian home here in Singapore, with its blend of eastern and western furnishings (and a little family altar in the living room).  In a similar room in the Macau museum, I found drinking glasses just like those my grandmother has!  (I've been drinking in glasses like these since I was a little child!)

St Dominic's Church

Then we have the churches - Macau has plenty of beautiful old Catholic churches about.  The Jesuits came here many years ago, and built a church and seminary, St Paul's, up on a hill.  Originally built in 1602, this Macau church was destroyed by fire in 1835 and stands in ruins today, with only a magnificent facade left to show just how majestic this church must have been in its original state.  Pilgrims and tourists still come to this spot today, climbing the many steps to the top of the church and then visiting the little Museum of Macau behind.   Coincidentally, Malacca's St Paul's church too was built on a hill, and it too, now lies in ruins (see my earlier post on Malacca for more details). I also visited St Dominic's church - at the other end of Senado Square, the church was built in 1587 by the Dominicans - apparently, the first church to be built in China.

Then, there is the food. Whoever would have thought that the Portuguese liked their sambal belacan so much that they took it to Macau with them?  And yet, here it is, unmistakable, selling in the tourist food shops of Taipa and Macau.  I must admit I could not resist and bought a little bottle to try at home.

We tried quite a few Macanese restaurants.   The dishes are not that similar to Eurasian dishes in Singapore - you do not get curry devil or Feng, for example.  But the oxtail stew sold in the food court in the Venetian - who would ever have thought that it would taste remarkably similar (although not nearly so good) as my mother's? And the chicken curry noodles - removing the rather alien taste of the curry, the base of onions, tomatoes, tumeric and spices could be the base of a good chicken stew back in Singapore.

We also tried out the famous Portuguese egg tart.  Yes, we tried those at Lord Stowe's bakery, which had a handily located branch at The Venetian, where we were staying.  A crisp, flaky pastry, beautifully smooth custard under a caramelised top - yes, this has indeed become the definitive egg tart, at least for me.

Macau-style Pineapple pastries 

Last but not least, I have to mention the pineapple tarts.  Naturally, they are nowhere - nowhere! - as good as the pineapple tarts you get here in Singapore.  And they have started making it in neat pineapple filled pastry squares.  But nonetheless, just one more link tying Southeast Asia to Northeast Asia .... and yet another hint that the pineapple tart is a true blue Eurasian invention.

Naturally, Macau is not Malacca, nor Singapore.  It retains its own distinctive culture, and is obviously more "Chinese" than either Malacca nor Singapore.  But just like the Macau Museum seeks to illustrate, it is one more point on this planet when East and West met, merged, and created a new and distinctively different culture and way of life. 

For more photos of Macau (including some which are definitely not linked to its colonial heritage) click here.  For more about Macau and its heritage, check out this website.

Two Shoes

It has been six months since my last update on my kasut manek project. Well, I would have been happier if I had managed to do a bit more, but it is what it is!  But, I am pleased that it is beginning to look like a pair of shoes!

A pair of shoes emerges

Right shoe, in progress

Threads of a Pattern

This is my 100th post on this blog, a milestone indeed.  I have learnt so much when writing this blog, a pleasure and privilege which I treasure very much.  Learnt about my traditions and culture, learnt about this small corner of Singapore I live in, and above all, I have learnt about my family - by talking to other family members, and by searching through the wonderful Straits Times on-line archive.  

From my father's family members, I learnt that my great-great-grandfather actually came to Singapore, something I never knew before.  An earlier post recounts how his son, my great-grandfather settled in Singapore and brought the rest of the  family over from China.  My great-grandfather  went into business with his cousin and other relatives, but politics would intervene to drive them apart. He was an ardent Republican, but his cousin  harboured communist leanings and eventually went back (or was deported) to China.  Slowly, my great-grandfather  became a more prominent member of the business community.   The Great Depression drove him to the brink of bankruptcy, but he built his business up again. The Straits Times quotes him as voicing opposition to the taxes on rice imposed by the British.   

World War II came to Singapore, and my great-grandfather took his family to Johore where his brother lived.  Alas, one of his brothers lost his life during the war, leaving his widow and young children behind.

I've told stories before about how my great-grandfather met his wife, my great-grandmother. On my mother's side, I have told the tale of her grandfather, the ang mo lang who came from Britain to make his fortune in the Far East.  His son, my  grandfather, would become a teacher and principal of a boy's school here, leaving his stamp on the next generation of young people - who would turn out to be the first generation of Singaporeans who grew up and brought up their families in an independent Singapore.  

Sharing these stories with other people led them to share their own. An aunt on my mother's side told me about her father.  Orphaned at an early age, he left his home in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) for a distant island called Singapore.  He did not tell his mother - just left her a note to inform her of his intentions, or so the story goes.  He came to Singapore, met my grand-aunt and married her during WWII when they were both in Bahau (the Eurasian settlement created by the Japanese in Malaysia).  Another story, about my mother's mother's brother, who sailed away many years ago to a distant land called America.  Today, his son returns to the country where his father was born, to meet the relatives he has never known. 

So many stories, so many stories yet unheard and untold.  And other people have their stories too, of their families, their grandfathers and great-grandfathers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers.  They grew up and grew old, contributing to the society around them even as their lives were rocked by the turbulent times in which they lived.  Collectively,  their lives are like threads in a pattern, woven in and into the fabric of the history of a country called Singapore.