My Peranakan Heritage

My Peranakan Heritage

Contributed by Jerry Lee

Background

Peranakan in Indonesian and Malay means the uterus or womb, or someone from a mixed marriage between a local and a foreigner. Not all Peranakans are of Chinese ancestry.

While the origins of Singapore’s Chinese Peranakans are hard to pin down, some scholars and writers believe them to be descendants of Chinese immigrant traders who married local Malay women or Bataks from Sumatra.But it has been pointed out that such intermarriages took place up to only the mid-19th century, when women in China did not migrate overseas. These Peranakans were known as Straits Chinese, as they were usually born in the British-controlled Straits Settlements of Singapore, Penang and Malacca. During colonial times, they were also known as the King’s Chinese in reference to their status as British subjects after the Straits Settlements became a Crown colony in 1867.

Peranakan men are known as baba, while the women are known as nonya (or nyonya). From the second half of the 19th century to the mid-20th century, Peranakans were also known as the Straits Chinese, as they were born in the Straits Settlements. Many of the early Peranakans were entrepreneurial traders and shopkeepers. A significant number were also involved in the real estate, shipping and banking sectors.

Source: “Peranakan (Straits Chinese) Community”, Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board, Singapore

My Great-Grandparents and Grandparents

My grandma is the only daughter of Loke Yew Bee. Loke Yew Bee is the younger brother of the illustrious Loke Yew- the very rich Malaysian businessman.

She was married off to Lim Hock Chuan, the only son of the owner of a Shipping Firm in Singapore. My great-grandparents are the 2 persons in picture 1 and 2 below.

Above: Picture 1

Above: Picture 2

Picture 3 shows my grandfather Lim Hock Chuan- the man in the swimsuit with my grandma on the left in nyonya sarong kebaya at Katong beach with her friend. The kids are just workers’ children.

Above: Picture 3

Her name is Loke Soo Geok. It was an arranged marriage and at her marriage she was given her share of her inheritance as she was not allowed to return to her parents’ home but to serve her mother-in-law.

Loke Yew Bee family is Cantonese but her mother-in - law was a Hokkien family. They came down from Penang to establish their shipping business when Sir Stamford Raffles established Singapore as a free port.

She learnt how to cook all the Hokkien dishes and Nyonya dishes from her mother-in-law. After her mother in law passed away then she was released from her bondage . She came to stay with my mother, my sisters and I as my mother was the eldest daughter. She looked after me from young until she passed away in August 1972 when I was Sec 1 in RI

She lived through the Japanese Occupation and I heard all her first hand accounts of the War. The most interesting story was the man who crawled out of the trench at the Sook Ching massacre at Bedok End Beach. He seek refuge in the Malay village at Bedok- the one who survived to tell the tale. Subsequently, the remains like shreds of hair were washed up at the beach at Katong. The location of Bedok Camps - 3SIR and 4SIR were the sites of the Sook Ching Massacre at Bedok end.

My Parents

My father’s name is Henry Lee and mother’s name is Lim Siew Tin , Dorothy.

A Frantic Search for My Roots

Initially I was unaware of who my grandmother's parents were. This was until my uncle found a link at the rojak historian website. I just gave him my grandmother's name.

My uncle has done extensive research on my paternal side. About my maternal side, I know they had many relatives back then in Penang. I managed to track down my last surviving uncle ,75, when I last saw him in Penang. This last picture is that of my grandmother, Loke Soo Geok.