The first Baba Nyonya Night
in Taiping was held on 14 September 2012 at the 84 year old heritage building
of the Hokkien Association. Tickets were sold out weeks before the event. The
330 guests, in exotic Peranakan attire who streamed into the vintage hall that
day, were in an excitable and joyous mood, anticipating an interesting evening
ahead.
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| Nyonya Queen Contest |
In
the meantime, the guests were invited to start their dinner at the beautifully
set up buffet tables groaning under 14 types of
Nyonya food like buah petai sambal prawns, mango kerabu, acar fish,
hokkien mee, bubur cha cha, ice kacang, fried chicken wings and other mouth
watering dishes. On each table were already laid out nyonya dumplings, kuih
talam and ang koo, as well as drinks and fruit juices from generous sponsors.
The heritage hall, with its antique
floor tiling and rich history was built in
1928 on land, donated by
philanthropist Ng Boo Bee, one of the association’s longest serving presidents.
The milling lady guests looked gorgeous in their intricately embroidered kebaya
and sarongs, beaded footwear, flowers in their hair and toting beaded handbags
and purses. Most said that these were heirlooms from mothers and grandmothers
and were glad to be able to dust them out and wear them for that evening’s
function.
The Baba Nyonya Night was jointly
organised by the Taiping Heritage Society (THS) and the Taiping Tourist
Association (TTA). The THS President, Yeap Thean Eng, AMP, said, “I hope all
you wonderful guests will have an enjoyable evening of Baba Nyonya culture,
even though the peranakan culture is slowly declining in the face of modern day
entertainment and life style. With this event, it is hoped that more people,
especially the younger generations, can experience and learn something about
the baba nyonya, thereby promoting and preserving this very unique culture.”
The TTA President, Abdul Halim bin
Yahaya, in his speech said, “It is a rare sight to see major organizations,
placing priority upon the needs of the society above all, and putting aside
their ego to focus on consolidating efforts towards peace and harmony. It was
so beautiful to see the committee members from the two organizations sitting
together over the last many months to discuss, plan and organise this event.”
Organising Chairperson, Mrs Sharon Chan, after giving a
brief history of the Peranakan culture and thanking the hardworking committee, ended
her speech by saying, “Lastly, I would like to mention that we are indeed the
epitome of racial intermesh. Our Prime Minister will be very happy at this
truly 1Malaysia culture, because the oneness is deeply interwoven into our
mixed blood and hybrid culture.”
The night’s entertainment took off to
a great start with the greatly anticipated Nyonya Queen Contest and there were
22 contestants decked out in their resplendent best. The three judges, Datin
Jennifer Ong, Cecelia Lim and Helen Ong took a long time to decide on the
winners because they had to study the contestants from head to toe to make sure
that they were wearing truly nyonya attire and accessories. Eventual Nyonya
Queen winner, Irene Low, was awarded a sash, bouquet, cash vouchers and a huge
hamper. First and second runners-up Josephine Tan and Lim Lay Yong also
received good prizes.
Then it was the turn of the Baba King
Contest and the twelve sporting gents paraded in their batik shirts with the
title going to Lawrence Wong.
The
Guest of Honour for the evening was YB Dato Tan Lian Hoe, Deputy Minister of
Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism. She was represented by YB Soo Kay
Peng, Taiping Town Council (TTC) councillor, who expressed surprise and delight
at seeing so many nyonyas in Taiping. To loud applause, he pledged RM1000 to
the event to encourage the preservation of the nyonya baba culture.
Then it was party time as the ever
popular ‘Rasa Sayang’ was loudly sung with enthusiastic audience participation. Eight nyonyas on stage sang humorous pantuns
in Hokkien. A rambong-joget was performed by these same ladies and this was
followed by two line dances, Sarong Cha Cha and Chachanella, with many sarong-clad
guests dancing on stage and on the floor. With psychedelic disco lights
flashing and hot music blaring, many took to the floor to join in the fun. Free
style joget and gyrating cha cha dancers covered the floor. And 90 year old
Baba, Lim Chung Bee, honoured that night for being the oldest member, was also
dancing along with his walking stick waving about as a dance prop!
YDP Sharom bin Abdul Malek, TTC Chairman
and his family, popped in a bit later in the evening and was seen enjoying themselves
and smiling broadly at the antics of the dancers.
All in all, it was a very successful
cultural evening of good food, good fellowship, interesting contests and a valiant
effort to keep alive a culture that may disappear if nothing is done to
preserve it.
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