Total Pageviews

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Persatuan Peranakan Baba dan Nyonya Kuala Lumpur [16-4-2011]

The definition of 'Peranakan' according to numerous sources is effectively 'Straits-Born Chinese'. A less-vague explanation of the term would be that in the late 15th-century to 16th -century, Chinese immigrants travelled from the Motherland to what is known today as Malaysia and the surrounding geographical area (what is known today as South-East-Asia), for trade and such, subsequently decided to get randy with the local beauties and decided to settle here. The result: A unique blend of mainland Chinese and local Malay culture which has spawned generations of a beautiful, culturally-rich and fiercely proud people known as the Peranakan, or Baba (for men) and Nyonya (for women). 
Welcome to the Third (3rd) Annual Dinner & Dance 2011 organized by the Persatuan Peranakan Baba Nyonya Kuala Lumpur (PPBNKL). Phew, what a mouthful. I hope I got it right! This time round this lovely event was held at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Resort and Country Club. I did not have the opportunity to attend the inaugural Annual Dinner but I did have the honor of joining these lovely people last year in Melaka for the 2nd Annual Dinner and Dance. I did not shoot as many pictures last year but this time around, I wanted to document this annual event.

Once again the event was graced by the talented, charismatic and evergreen Melodians, a veteran live band who specialises in old-skool cha-cha and rhumba, among others. In between speeches by the lovely Dr. Lee Su Kim, there were performances by an ethusiastic youth arm of the Association (who sang a rendition of one of my all-time favourite songs by John Denver) as well as a incredibly beautiful young girl (I did not quite catch her name when she was introduced by Cedric) with a voice as lovely as her appearance. The Mystery Beauty did a country number and although the sight of her was enough to stun me, her voice completely finished the job! An unrelated point is that while singing a country number, Mystery Beauty was wearing a plaid kebaya. I regarded this coincidence with a silent chuckle. Or perhaps it was intentional. I may never find out.

Also, there was a skit by several acclaimed men, how do I put this, dressed in women's kebaya outfits. Historically, the patriarchal Peranakan society forbade women to participate in numerous activities, one of them being stage plays and shows. As a result, the men had to take on roles of women in such productions. This practice later on became a popular reminder of the society and culture of the Peranakan. In fact, this was even immortalised in a popular local TV show in the 80's named Baba dan Nyonya as well as the Singaporean Little Nyonya.

Ooh, by the way, a Kebaya is a traditional outfit of the Peranakan women (or Nyonya). I think many of the women in the following photos are wearing the kebaya, so I don't have to describe it, but suffice to say, it is an elaborate, beautiful and feminine outfit.
























































For those of you who like statistics:
Vital Stats for April: 5 posts 188 pics
Vital Stats So Far: 64 posts 2,621 pics


Disclaimer: The views published in the above photoblog are the author's and the author's alone. If readers are not agreeable with the above views, well, you can bugger-off. All rights are reserved for the photos and the article itself. This article may be reproduced with permission of the author for private or public usage, or other forms of general mayhem. Thank you for reading this disclaimer.

No comments:

Post a Comment