Monday 4 August 2008

A Peranakan.

If you grandmother is a nyonya, your relatives are nyonya and Baba. But should not be proud about that and show off...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peranakan, they are Chinese, and sometimes they married Malay too, supprise ?

By the middle of the twentieth century, most Peranakan were English educated, as a result of the British colonisation of Malaya, and the natural propensity of these people who were able to easily embrace new cultures. Because the Peranakans readily embraced English culture and education, administrative and civil service posts were often filled by prominent Straits Chinese. The interaction with the British also caused many in the community to convert to Christianity. The Peranakan community thereby became very influential in Malacca and Singapore and were known also as the King's Chinese due to their perceived loyalty to the British Crown. Because of the interaction of the different cultures and languages that Peranakans had, most Peranakans were (and still are) trilingual, being able to converse with Chinese, Malays and the British. Common vocations were as merchants, traders, and general intermediaries between China, Malaya and the West; the latter was especially valued by the British, since the Babas also enjoyed good relations with the Malay community and served as advisors to the royal Malay courts[citation needed]. In fact the term "Baba" is an honorific term in Malay; probably derived from Hindi/Sanskrit [Baba: literally means grandfather or father, and is used as a term of reverence and affection for an elderly gentleman].

Are you a Baba ? Please talk like a Baba..

The Chinese language has various terms equivalent to the English "Overseas Chinese". Huáqiáo (Simplified:华侨; Traditional:華僑) refers to Chinese citizens residing in countries other than China. Huáyì (Simplified:华裔; Traditional:華裔) refers to ethnic Chinese residing outside of China. [33] Another often-used term is 海外华人 (hǎiwài huárén), a more literal translation of Overseas Chinese; it is often used by the PRC government to refer to people of Chinese ethnicities who live outside the PRC, regardless of citizenship.

Overseas Chinese who are Cantonese, Hokkien (Taiwanese) or Hakka refer to Overseas Chinese as 唐人 (tángrén), pronounced tòhng yàn in Cantonese, tng lang in Hokkien and tong nyin in Hakka. Literally, it means Tang people, a reference to Tang dynasty China when it was ruling China proper. It should be noted that this term is commonly used to refer to people of Chinese descent locally and not necessarily always as a reference to any relations between the Overseas Chinese people of today and the Tang dynasty.[citation needed]

Are you a Chinese, people of Chin? Han?

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