Baba Nyonya Night 2012

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

The first arrivals were the Best Nyonya Dish contestants bringing in their carefully prepared dishes. They laid out their efforts in creative and artistic settings, in line with the Peranakan theme. Judging began at 7pm with  judges, Helen Ong, Moleh Wong and Dato Ong Chin Choon, tasting every dish and having a tough time deciding the winners.

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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