Professional Documents
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Introduction
Introduction
PERANAKAN COMMUNITY
A unique culture that combined various customs and traditions in Malacca is known as the
(Penang,Malacca and Singapore). 600 years ago, the Chinese immigrants of Malacca
settled in the Malay Peninsular, who intermarried with the Malay population and later spread
throughout the country. Peranakan had created a unique lifestyle and customs which had not
only left behind rich legacy of antiques but it cultural influences like cuisine and language are
still evident in Penang today. Baba (for men) and Nyonya (for women) was a term first used
by Malays to differentiate these locally born Chinese from later immigrants. The Peranakans
were partially assimilated into the Malay culture especially in food-using the spices in Malay
cuisine; dressing kebaya for Nyonya and language-Malay language that contains many