Beautiful Baba Nyonya Peranakan

The Language spoken by the Baba- Nyonya is a mixture of Malay and Hokkien

I had lived in Malaysia for several years and knew nothing of the Baba-Nyonya, until my Chinese wife Noi and I were visiting the Singapore museum, where a display was showing this beautiful selection of clothes and jewellery, and wedding baskets all highly decorated, Noi told me they were of the Baba-Nyonya culture in Malacca.

Noi was born and brought up in China until the age of 11 years of age, when she was adopted by her aunt Lo Gan who lived in Malacca

That may sound strange (Adoption by an aunt) but in Chinese society in the olden days, girls were not as highly treasured as boys, and girls were usually sent to live with family members in other countries who were more well off to lessen the load of the family in China.

I met Noi one day in Malacca, the sun seemed to shine more brightly as I looked into her eyes, she was to me the most beautiful lady in the world, and after a long period of courtship where we were escorted by her friends I went and asked her Aunt if I could marry Noi and take her to the UK, with the promise that we would return and visit. She accepted my offer and Noi and I married in Malacca lived together for 27 years throughout the world, having two daughters.

History of Baba-Nyonya

Peranakan, Baba-Nyonya and Straits Chinese ( named after the Straits of Malacca) are terms used for the descendants of the early Chinese immigrants to the Nusantara region, including both the British Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca and Penang and the Dutch-controlled island of Java among other places, who have partially adopted Malay customs in an effort to be assimilated into the local communities.