Tracing my Roots.. my Ancestors...
After watching so many episodes of 'The Little Nonya', though I do admit that there are quite a number of inaccuracies (Mum doesn't really bother watching the show because to her, it doesn't reflect much about her heritage & culture.), I feel so much on tracing back my maternal roots back to Melaka.
Honestly speaking, if I hadn't found out that I'm actually belonged to the Peranakan heritage as well when I reached the age of 15, I would've been in very much clueless on such heritage that has become so diluted to the extent that it may become non-existent for the next 5 - 10 years in Singapore.
Over the years, I've always been wondering: Why my Dad had always mentioned to me that aside from being a Chinese, that I also belonged to the distinctive, exclusive culture of the Peranakans? Why my Mum's looks (she always look so atas) and personality is so much different from my paternal relatives? And that since young, I must learn how to eat spicy stuff so as "...not to let down your mother's ancestors, who are also Baba/Nonya culture..." The biggest clue comes in when I had seen my maternal grandfather's sister, whom I always addressed her as "Ah-Kim" always wore decades-old yet colourful sarong kebaya whenever she steps in to visit my grandmother's place.
That's when, at the age of 15, I've learnt fully from my Mum, my godmother & my paternal uncle, that what my Dad has always remarked to me over the years, is true. I really do belonged to the Peranakan culture, making me not only just belonging to the Cantonese clan, but also to the Peranakan heritage. And that's also the age when I had fully learnt about the Peranakan culture, where Mum had never failed to explain parts of the heritage while walking around the streets of Melaka.
Till then, I had the only slightest clue from Mum that my maternal ancestors, came from Melaka and because of war, they migrated down to Singapore and since then, they've made Singapore, their home. But after that, I've eventually grown attached to Melaka (it's quite a dejá vu feeling from the minute when I've made my first trip to Melaka, even before Mum could actually reveal her heritage fully to me...) and to the heritage that I had.
I'm a diluted Peranakan with no idea on how to start preserving my part-heritage for my younger generations to continue. But I'm definitely proud to say that I'm part of it and this is a heritage that must be preserved for many years to go.
I would really love and learn to do things all related to Peranakan, in adhering to what my parents had always wished (to keep the traditions alive) for us, kids to do. I would want to travel back to Melaka to trace back my maternal ancestors' roots, to do a thorough research and hopefully, to compile them into a book whereby I can pass that down from one generation to another.
So that in many years to come, Peranakan heritage will be preserved and understood properly. Especially on our wonderful family's history...