Traditionally, Baba-Nyonyas (Straits-born Chinese) of Singapore, Penang & Malacca love vibrant colours in their dress forms, and this love extends to their dinnerware and even food. This 400-year-old culture, where Ming Dynasty Chinese culture fused with Southeast Asian ones, like the Malacca sultanate to create a hybrid, unique culture which appreciates everything beautiful, and where vibrant colours are an integral part of their life.
Just sharing a couple of photos by a friend of mine who’s a Penang-Nyonya. These women are all 60-year-olds and they were all schoolmates at St George’s Girls School in Penang back in the 1960s. They decided to get-together in their traditional Nyonya outfits: embroidered “kebaya” blouses and “batik sarongs” and took photos to commemorate their long friendship.
I had some friends over to my place a while back for a Nyonya afternoon tea - served them a selection of Nyonya cakes, and some Nyonya savoury snacks. My dinnerware here are family heirloom - 300-year-old ones inherited from my great-great-greatfather’s household.
