Chinese tradition, ceremony,culture

Having self identity and self respect for themselves should be encouraged People cannot respect other unless they respect themselves. Knowing who you are and where you come from give sense of belonging and promote orderly conduct in society
About time Chinese government allow the people to be who they are regardless of politic As they say man does not live on food alone

We were told she is the Eve of our people Legend has it she was bestow to the ruler of Malacca to seal the friendship between Ming and Melacca. She bring large retinue of 500 boys and girls with her and They were given land called Bukit Cina or Chinese hill. Back then the Malay is not fully converted to Islam. Today that land become a Chinese cemetery. I did visit her temple

But there is no record in Ming chronicle of princess Hang Lipo So some people said it is fake. But the Malay chronicle mention her as consort to Mansyur Shah But the chronicle was written in 1600's about 100 years after the event Fact get mix with legend and something is lost in the mist of history But we do have account from the Portuguese historic account SUMA noted that indeed there is mix marriage between a Hui Chinese girl and Melacca ruler But it is not Mansyur shah but Meghat shah Here is the story


The search for Hang Li Po

Visitors outside Hang Li Po’s well in Malacca. To seek out the historical veracity of Hang Li Po is an important task withing the context of Malaysia’s nation-building efforts. Pix by Mohd Jamah Nasri
By
April 7, 2017 @ 9:18am

As a person of Chinese ancestry who lived among Malay Muslims, Hang Li Po is a prototype for the lived experience of many modern-day Malaysians

EVEN though the Malacca sultanate had existed for a little more than a century, it gave birth to an astoundingly rich assortment of historical figures — one of the most prominent of whom, however, was not actually from the city itself: the so-called Chinese princess, Hang Li Po.

Despite (or perhaps because of) her foreign origins, however, today, Hang Li Po is one of Malacca’s most relevant figures, constituting a possible template for contemporary Malaysian-Chinese identity.

Like so many figures associated with Malacca, Hang Li Po sits firmly within Malaysia’s national consciousness. Supposedly the daughter of a Ming Emperor, Sejarah Melayu claims a Chinese official named Ling Ho sent her to Malacca as a bride for Sultan Mansur Shah (r.1459-1477), and with whom she later had a son called Paduka Mimat.

Controversially, however, in 2014, historian Khoo Kay Kim claimed Hang Li Po was a myth. Khoo argued that because the Ming shi-lu (imperial records of the Ming dynasty) contained no record of either her or her marriage, she must be a fabrication — the probable invention of early Malay chroniclers.

Khoo predicated his conclusion, however, on a commonly-held, yet apparently incorrect, assumption: that Sejarah Melayu is the only early source to refer to Hang Li Po.

Although Khoo is quite correct that no known Chinese source mentions her, it is possible that several early Portuguese texts do, albeit in a different guise.

Although Sejarah Melayu is central to any understanding of Malaccan history, Tomé Pires’s Suma Oriental is no less significant. Unlike Sejarah Melayu, which was produced in Johor around 1612, the Suma was written in Malacca itself between 1512 and 1515 (that is, shortly after the Portuguese conquest).

Intended as an official report for the Portuguese king, it was (primarily) constructed using a Javanese chronicle; because the Javanese constituted a majority in pre-Portuguese Malacca, Pires considered this text to be the most reliable at his disposal.

The Suma, therefore, recorded some of Nusantara’s earliest traditions about Malacca.

Significantly, therefore, although it did not mention a Chinese princess wedded to Sultan Mansur Shah, it did refer to an unnamed Chinese girl who married Malacca’s second ruler, Sultan Megat Iskandar Shah (r.1414-1424). When examined carefully, this girl, who was unmentioned in Sejarah Melayu, emerged as the probable origin of the Hang Li Po legend.

According to the Suma, at the beginning of his reign, Sultan Megat Iskandar Shah decided to visit China to pay allegiance to the emperor.

After he had been received with great honour, and when the time came for him to return home, the sultan was entrusted to the care of a “Great Captain”, with whom he travelled back to Malacca and: “The captain brought with him a beautiful Chinese daughter, and when the said Xaquem Darxa (Iskandar Shah) reached Malacca, in order to do honour to the said captain, he married her although she was not a woman of rank.”

Later, this girl bore Sultan Megat Iskandar Shah a son with the title Paduka Raja.

Although this account differs in certain respects from Sejarah Melayu (it refers to a regular Muslim girl, not a non-Muslim princess; involves Sultan Megat Iskandar Shah, not Mansur Shah; and speaks of a Malaccan ruler’s visit to China, something unmentioned in Sejarah Melayu), the two undoubtedly shared a common core — a Chinese girl is escorted to Malacca by a Chinese official before marrying a Malaccan ruler, with whom she had a son with the title Paduka.

Ultimately, however, that the two accounts were indeed linked was demonstrated by the Chinese official: in each case, this official appeared to be the famous Zheng He (1371-1433/5).

Both before and after Sultan Megat Iskandar Shah’s reign, Malacca acted as Zheng He’s Southeast Asian base of operations, intimately connecting him to the city. Moreover, in 1419, Sultan Megat Iskandar Shah visited China in the company of Zheng He.

This strongly suggests that Pires’s “Great Captain” is a memory of Zheng He; no other historical figure tallies so well with the Suma’s account.

Significantly, therefore, the name of Sejarah Melayu’s Chinese official, “Ling Ho”, is an obvious corruption of “Zheng He”. But, if both officials are, therefore, representations of Zheng He, the probability arises that Pires’s unnamed Chinese Muslim girl is an earlier version of Hang Li Po, whom the author of Sejarah Melayu (which was written nearly two centuries after the events in question) must have mistakenly associated with Sultan Mansur Shah.

Taking all this into account, Khoo’s 2014 assertions appeared premature. Although it could still be protested that no known Chinese record of Zheng He’s voyages mentioned either this marriage or the girl, ultimately this is neither surprising nor damning.

As is well known, Zheng He’s official logs were destroyed, meaning any information about a marriage could simply have been lost. All other sources pertaining to his voyages, including the travelogues of Ma Huan and Fei Xin, were rarely discussed diplomatic matters.

If, however, Zheng He had chosen to marry a Chinese girl to a foreign ruler, he would only have been following common diplomatic practice.

Ultimately, whether Hang Li Po was a real figure is not merely a question of historical curiosity.

As a person of Chinese ancestry who lived among Malay Muslims, Hang Li Po is a prototype for the lived experience of many modern-day Malaysians.

To seek out her historical veracity is, therefore, an inherently important task within the context of contemporary Malaysia’s nation-building efforts, helping to firmly root an important modern identity.

Alexander Wain is a research fellow at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studied Malaysia. He can be reached at [email protected]

I don't know where the MSM get the idea that Chinese are Stealing, cheating, or duping people ? The chinese that I know are honest. They were successful exactly because their client feel they are treated fairly and come back for more business. This is drilled in our consciousnesses since childhood. They are good people even when they are rich they never forgot where they come from
"Honesty has always been our family’s byword" Koh said, adding that it has remained the family’s first rule in their personal and business lives. The principles of family discipline, an emphasis on filial piety, uniting family members, conducting oneself virtuously, have all had a subtle influence on the Koh family across the generations.

Cultural Legacy: Overseas Chinese and Ancestral Halls

2019-June-6 Source:

In March this year, the Koh family returned to their hometown in Chaozhou, flying from Singapore to China, the oldest member of the family already in his 80's.

Wilson Koh stood in front of his family ancestral hall. [Photo provide to newsgd.com]


In the 1920s, Wilson Koh's grandparents and two great-uncles emigrated to Singapore after traveling across the sea from the town of Fa Yang in Chao'an County, Guangdong. After enduring many hardships, life finally settled down, and the family grew and prospered. Today, the Koh’s family history in Singapore spans four generations, but tradition and custom still links the family to their ancestral home. Every year, on the first day of the second month of the lunar calendar, the Koh's return to their hometown to pay respect to their ancestors.

"We still have a large extended family back home" Wilson Koh said. Ancestral Day is an important family event, with members from all across the globe gathering here for the festival.

The tradition of Ancestral halls

More than 20 years ago, when Wilson Koh first stood in front of his family ancestral hall, he was first drawn to the beautiful and historic architecture. But as time went on, he came to realize that the hall also housed an intangible heritage that has been passed on from generation to generation.

Seven years ago, Koh family in Singapore contributed a great deal of money to support the renovation of their ancestral shrines back home. The Koh Ancestral Hall was also renovated in Singapore. During the renovation project, the family placed emphasis on preserving the family’s historic teachings, and set out the family’s rules and precepts in a prominent position in the hall, preserving the historic teachings for future generations.

"Honesty has always been our family’s byword" Koh said, adding that it has remained the family’s first rule in their personal and business lives. The principles of family discipline, an emphasis on filial piety, uniting family members, conducting oneself virtuously, have all had a subtle influence on the Koh family across the generations.

"I'll never forget my hometown"




Around Tomb Sweeping Day every year, many overseas Chinese will return to their hometowns to pay homage to their ancestors and visit their graves. Worshipping at these ancestral tombs or at the ancestral shrines, the drumming, burning incense, toasting wine are all ancient rituals paying homage to one's origins.

At the end of this year's ceremony, the Koh family invited a Chao Opera Troupe to perform two consecutive nights in the village.

During one of the performances an 80-year-old villager expressed his thanks for what the Koh family had done for the village. This touched Wilson Koh deeply.

The Koh family began to invest in Shantou in the 1980’s, undertaking many social welfare projects. In order to provide care for the elderly left in the village, funds have been donated to build schools and for the establishment of a Recreation Centre to provide care and a recreational space for the elderly in the village.

In recent years a new generation of Chinese living in Singapore have been increasingly visiting their extended families in China, and Ancestral Halls have played an important role in connecting Chinese living in Singapore with their ancestral homes.

Now here is the real baba culture and not soup up melodrama of "little nyonya" And theater is the venue where this culture is transmitted One organization that does this is Gunong sayang association of Singapore They are there to preserve and transmit it for future generation I applauded the tireless effort of this peoples. the theme is usually family, living virtuous life, romance and drama, satire and comedy etc

Normally still using the baba malay patois

Gunong Sayang Association have us asking 'Lu Siapa?', 'Who Are You?'


The (GSA) was founded by Baba Koh Hoon Teck in 1910 as a cultural organisation to promote social interaction and the singing of dondang sayang among its Peranakan members. I was invited to meet the cast and crew of their latest theatre production 'Lu Siapa?' and find out more about what role a historic cultural society has to play in contemporary society.

This year's production starring Jessie Cheang as the loving and attentive matriarch Bibik Tan Swee Neo, Lu Siapa? (Who are you?) touches on the rising trend of dementia, as an outcome of our rapidly aging population in Singapore. It tells a bittersweet tale of Bibik Tan Swee Neo’s struggle with dementia and how her family responds to this domestic predicament.

Entering GSA's clubhouse at Joo Chiat Place, I received a warm welcome, and it was like stepping back in time into a living museum. Singing and laughter from upstairs and phrases in Baba Malay drifted down. Before going upstairs to watch in on a rehearsal, I was invited to the [marble-topped] table, and enjoyed finding out more about GSA and its members and activities from Frederick Soh, Vice President. Following our conversation and later visit with the members of the theatrical cast, it is obvious to me that GSA is more than an association to its members, it is a family. And in contrast to the play's title that asks 'Lu Siapa?', there is no doubt that GSA provides its members with a very real sense of who they are.

Nya Veronica Tan Lyann, playwright of Lu Siapa? gathers her inspiration from her personal journey living with elderly parents. She writes the story based on her first- hand experience in taking care of the elderly and sick, and the challenges that her family had faced. She spent an extended amount of time with friends and elderly who had dementia and paid heed to common symptoms and conflicts encountered.

GSA hope that Lu Siapa? will create awareness of the challenges that the illness brings to both patients and caregivers. This subject is of great importance to GSA as Peranakans value family bonds as a significant foundation of its culture.

Nuwa interview with GSA Vice President Frederick Soh (abreviated to FS below).

Nuwa: The GSA was founded to promote singing of dondang sayang and the social interaction surrounding that. Can you explain for those not familiar what this style of singing is?
FS: Dondang Sayang is a Traditional artform of singing where 2 parties will sing in 4 liner pantuns to the tune of dondang sayang , it’s a kind of banter between 2 parties on a specified topic be it love , the universe, the birthday boy,etc…

Nuwa: Does the association still promote this style of singing? If so, has it changed over the past 100 years and how? Why do you think it important to change/remain the same?
FS: Yes, the association still sings it but due to the lack of native Baba Malay speakers, those that perform these artforms usually memorise the words.

Nuwa: The forthcoming play ‘Lu Siapa? Who are you?’ produced and presented by GSA explores how a Peranakan household will respond to the fall of their matriarch who has early stage dementia. Can you tell us how you chose the topic and how this relates to GSA’s mission?
FS: The Script writer Veronica Tan Lyann and GSA committee felt that this year we wanted to address the issue of ageing population in Singapore and also the different illness that afflict them. We also know that many of those that came to watch our shows annually have also been affected by it [dementia], as such, we want to show how roads paved with good intentions can sometimes add to the challenging reality of caregiving.

Nuwa: Can you tell us a little more about the production of the play? Do you do everything in- house e.g. stage direction, scripts, lighting & sound, costumes and props?
FS: All those involved in the cast and helpers are all volunteers and members of GSA, however there are some professionals that we need to engage such as the lighting, sound, set designing…

Nuwa: Are you looking to expand or recruit new members from the professional art community? If so, are you looking for any particular skills artistic or otherwise e.g. musical, theatre, arts and crafts, volunteers...?
FS: We are recruiting members that have a passion for the Peranakan culture, once you have a passion for this culture, the rest will fall into place.

Nuwa: ‘Lu Siapa?’ is performed in Baba Malay with english subtitles. Do new members of GSA need to speak Baba Malay to participate in arts activities?
FS: Not at all, Like I mentioned earlier, as long as they are willing to learn, we are more than happy to impart.

Nuwa: In addition to theatre and singing, what other activities do you run that are open to members/ the public?
FS: We have embroidery class, Cherki card game class, 3D agar agar making class, Kueh making class, Mari Kita chakap Baba Class, even handbag beading class,etc….., its open to the public but members have discount.

Nuwa: And...please tell us what is your favourite peranakan dish? And can you cook it?
FS: My Favourite have got to be Itek Sioh, and yes I can cook it well.

Nuwa interview with cast member Jessie Cheang (shown centre left above and abbreviated to 'JC' below) playing lead and matriarch Bibik Tan Swee Neo.

Nuwa: Please can you share what it was about playing the role of Matriarch Bibik Tan Swee Neo that interest you most?
JC: I always have a passion for acting because I get to be someone else and with this year’s role, I used to be a nurse and have seen how Dementia patients react to different scenarios, acting as a Dementia patient gave me a better understanding of how these people felt.

Nuwa: How do you think the peranakan ‘setting’ for the storyline helps the play connect with audiences?
JC: Even though this play is in a Peranakan setting, it connects with the audience at all levels even if they are not Peranakan because everyone knows someone with Dementia.

Nuwa: From your point of view, is it important the play be performed in Baba Malay? Why?
JC: Personally, I feel that having the play in Baba Malay makes it nostalgic for the Peranakan audience at large, many of the audience will tell us that they miss listening this Baba Malay that were spoken by their grandmother, mother etc…

Nuwa: Lu Siapa addresses an important but sometimes taboo topic ‘dementia’. Have the cast and crew found talking about dementia has become easier having participated in this production? Or has it impacted you in another way?
JC: Dementia is a condition where diagnosis can only be made by the close observation of the love ones and there is no cure for it, Having been involved in this play makes all of us know the importance appreciating and telling your love ones you love them because there may just be a time when they wont know it even when you tell them.

Nuwa: Please share with us your favourite Peranakan dish? And can you cook it?
JC: Ayam Buah Keluak and I can cook as well.

I wonder if we even have hope as Chinese Americans when elected Congresswomen get treated like shit and no one bats an eye. No protests no nothing.

localizer said:

I wonder if we even have hope as Chinese Americans when elected Congresswomen get treated like shit and no one bats an eye. No protests no nothing.

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Hope of what? Hope to be given owner status in someone else's home? No, no hope. The only hope for Chinese people is to build up our own home in China.

It is good that nowadays young people in east asia inter marry with each other probably the best way to bridge the hate and bad history and promote understanding

The other day, February 5th was the first day of Chinese New Year! I have an international marriage with a Chinese-Malaysian husband and I share what kind of Chinese New Year in Malaysia. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country, so new years are held four times a year, and holidays and events vary according to people, so it is very interesting and interesting. I would be delighted if you could learn a little about the customs and culture of people called "Malaysia Chinese". ▼ Illustration spots that I visited in the movie [Jin Guang Shan Dong Jiji Temple] PT 2 297, Jalan Sg. Recommended Video】 ▼ 【Traveler must-see】 Necessities and FAQs for traveling to Malaysia! / Commentary on precautions

Continuation of the above well made video and there is Chinese subtitle click the cc icon in youtube
She also said Chinese man is caring and treat their wife like princess

They decide to raise their children in Malaysia because of multiculture

Beautiful Kuan Yin Temple in Penang Malaysia another pairing of Cute Japanese girl and Handsome Hokkian man

Equation said:

Hope of what? Hope to be given owner status in someone else's home? No, no hope. The only hope for Chinese people is to build up our own home in China.

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Damn the Racist Trump & his white racists followers. There are Americans - whites, blacks, hispanics, Asians, Chinese, Indians and many other racial groups that are unlike the white racists/supremists who have raised their Ugly Heads from time to time. ---- Hope they will be voted OUT of office, only then will America regain its respects again. As of now, US has lost its respect not only by Asia but also the West because of the current President and his Administration - read what the British Ambassador had recently commented.