As far as cultures go, the Peranakans have one of the most bling for the buck. In a recent visit to our Peranakan Museum, clickandrender is pleasantly surprised to find out that the Peranakans did not only live in Malacca. Mable zooms in on the distinctive beaded slippers as well as other treasures from the museum.

But are the material trappings all that make a culture? I missed the entire Little Nyonya on account of having been away from Singapore, and I had a rather dim first impression of it when I saw it on TV mobile because everybody was speaking flawless mandarin, as opposed to the unique patois of Malay and Hokkien that the Peranakans were famous for. It really puzzled me to find that the Little Nyonya was a big hit in Singapore.

I’ve seen how the Little Nyonya has sparked a revival on things Peranakan (kebayas are quite the formal chic this season) but I wonder if this revival is only a materialist one – one of clothing and food but not really so much as a cultural one of language and social customs. Are Peranakans really going the way of the dodo, like one writer muses? How much of a culture truly remains once its language has disappeared, like in the example of Kristang?

I do note, however, that there are quite a few Peranakan-themed videos on youtube – including a video about Peranakan terms. Perhaps it’s a start?