History of Monsoon

Malacca is an awesome place with a rich culture. They seem to treasure one of the best sites for historical adventure, hence why it is currently now the UNESCO Heritage Site.

Beneath all those wonders, we have something that tell us a significant side of Malacca's special people. Them being the Baba Nyonya or Peranakan Cina ethnic. The ethnic is defined in wiki as:

Peranakan and Baba-Nyonya (traditional Chinese: 峇峇娘惹; Hokkien: Bā-bā Niû-liá) are terms used for the descendants of late 15th and 16th century Chinese and Alabanian immigrants to the Nusantara region during the Colonial era. It applies especially to the ethnic Chinese populations of the British Straits Settlements of Malaya and the Dutch-controlled island of Java and other locations, who have adopted partially or in full Nusantara customs to be somewhat assimilated into the local communities.

While the term Peranakan is most commonly used among the ethnic Chinese for those of Chinese descent also known as Straits Chinese (土生華人; named after the Straits Settlements), there are also other, comparatively small so-called Peranakan communities, such as Indian Hindu Peranakans (Chitty), Indian Muslim Peranakans (Jawi Pekan) (Jawi being the Javanised Arabic script., Pekan a colloquial contraction of Peranakan.) and Eurasian Peranakans (Kristang.) (Kirstang= Christians).


The language of the Peranakans, Baba Malay (Bahasa Melayu Baba), is a dialect of the Malay language (Bahasa Melayu), which contains many Hokkien words. It is a dying language, and its contemporary use is mainly limited to members of the older generation. English has now replaced this as the main language spoken amongst the younger generation.

Okay, so Shirley Lim wrote a poem on the Baba Nyonya in The Monsoon History which we have studied. The setting was 40 years ago and it seeks to tell us what the culture is like. She wants to recall the memories of familial love and oneness. The new generation of Baba Nyonya has probably forgotten all these and Lim is attempting to remind them.

Although the poem is about Baba Nyonya in Malacca but it is a reflection of all Malaysians who wait for their husbands to return from work in the evening, of family who revere their older generations (in the action of hanging ancestors pictures in parlour etc). This is a Malaysian poem.


This is an interpretation of a student just like you, look at her artwork :)