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| Peranakan Museum |
The museum presents the history of Peranakan (the terms, and then the community) in a very interesting way. It starts from the back story of it - the merging of locals and foreigners, followed by how the Peranakans worked their way to find their identities in a country that on some level they can't say as their own home-country, to the point that they managed to survive and even contribute to the society, and made impacts in the development of the country.
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| Museum Lobby |
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| list of Galleries |
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| Gallery 1 - Origin Left: Photos of Peranakans Right: Traditional Peranakan kebaya, shoes, etc |
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| Gallery 2-5 - Wedding Left: Wedding accessories Right: Wedding dowry - from bridegroom |
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| Gallery 2-5 - Wedding - Furniture |
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| Gallery 2-5 - Wedding Left: Wedding bed Right: Bride, Bridegroom |
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| Gallery 6 - Nonya Left: Traditional Nonya clothing Right: purses, glasses case made of beads-known to be handmade by Nonyas |
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| Gallery 6 - Nonya - more accessories made of beads |
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| Gallery 7 - Religion Left: altar to worship Gods Right: Gods figurines |
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| Gallery 7 - Religion Left: Christian altar Right: Ancestral altar |
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| Gallery 8 - Public Life Peranakan in society, their involvement in wide variety of economy and social aspects |
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| Gallery 9 - Food and Feasting Top: dining tables with complete set of cutlery and dining wares Bottom: displays of dining wares |
After a visit to the museum, I truly think that that 6 dollars spent for the ticket was very much well-spent :)
As mentioned the admission charge for adult is S$6; there are free admission for Singaporean/PR students or senior citizen, as well as children aged 6 years and below. Another type of tickets are group admission, and also Joint Ticket - Peranakan Museum and Asian Civilizations Museum (costs S$10 - but it has to be used within 7 days of purchase).
Location:
39 Armenian Street
Singapore 179941
Opening Hours:
Monday (1 - 7 PM)
Tuesday - Sunday (9 AM - 7 PM / or 9 PM on Friday)
FYI, Peranakan Museum is only a short walk away from Singapore Philatelic Museum, so you may consider visiting both of them on the same day.
By the way, during my visit, there was an exhibition for Emily of Emerald Hill, a play written by a local Singaporean Peranakan writer named Stella Kon that was loosely based on the life of her grandmother.
It is a one-woman monologue type of play, which has been successfully performed in its home-country, Singapore, Malaysia, and even Australia. Among few women that played Emily, there was one local Singaporean actor that played the role of Emily in a different way that it involved the audience (and also more comical), instead of a full monologue.
The play is about a Peranakan named Emily, starting from her childhood, her marriage to a man twice her age, her struggle to be accepted in her husband's family, until she managed to be a respectable, hands-on Nonya - impressive, isn't it?
What's more impressive is that the fact there's only one actress on the stage, which basically the actress tells the story about her life - from childhood to her point of her life where she is now, and the only way for her to connect to the outside world, is thru a telephone!
I gotta say that the actress playing Emily must be a charismatic lady that could pull off a whole play just by herself and tell the story in an engaging (and not boring) way - otherwise, the audience can become restless or just ignore the actress altogether.
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| Emily of Emerald Hill Right: many posters of Emily's |
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| Emily of Emerald Hill exhibition A replica of the stage |
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| Emily of Emerald Hill exhibition Costumes |
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