I'm a Nyonya (and proud of it!)

'Nyonya Teatime', 36"x36", acrylic, 2020

It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole year since we moved into our new home. After our home renovation projects got delayed by months (thanks a lot, Covid-19!), we've finally arrived at the fun part - decorating! This is where a painting hobby comes in handy - I get to make exactly what I want to adorn my walls. The choice for the foyer was instantaneous - of course it had to be a dragonfly!

When it came to the dining room, though, I was a little stumped. I didn’t want to do something that was just pretty to look at - it had to mean something to me. My husband said, “Why don’t you do something that pays tribute to your cultural background?”.

His suggestion caused an instantaneous flare of pride in where I came from and in the rich traditions that surrounded me where I grew up. It’s been awhile since I felt that. Having lived away from Malaysia for 24 years now, my tastes and way of thinking have taken a rather anglicized and westernized sheen. Living in the U.S., I yearned to assimilate, to ‘blend in’, to be the least foreign-like that I could be, in my quest to be accepted into American society.

My Peranakan wedding to Tom

With the ’Black Lives Matter’ movement experiencing a resurgence, something switched inside of me. In the process of educating myself about the plight of African Americans in this country, I viewed their fierce pride in their blackness with new eyes - with it came a swell of feeling for my own cultural uniqueness and a shedding of that need to camouflage that side of me.

I come from a very unique Chinese cultural subset called ‘Peranakan’ - it’s unique even for Malaysia, where I grew up. It is colorful in so many ways - in its language, its clothing, its food (mmm, don’t get me started on the food!), architecture…… if you’re interested, here’s a link to an article that has some info and awesome pictures of Peranakan culture: https://wnfdiary.com/what-is-peranakan-culture/

Pixie checking out my antique Peranakan china, a gift from my mum

For our dining room wall, I finally decided on a traditional Peranakan teapot and teacup - I don’t actually have these myself but I scoured the internet for inspiration. If I could own my own Peranakan tea set, this would be it!