An ‘extra-special’ Chinese New Year for Melaka Peranakan

 

Persatuan Peranakan Cina Melaka’s Lim Eng Leong says many overseas-based members of the community are looking forward to returning home for the festive season.

MELAKA: It will be an extra special Chinese New Year for many Melaka Peranakan based overseas as they return home to celebrate the festivities in all their grandeur.

Persatuan Peranakan Cina Melaka committee member Lim Eng Leong said for the past two years, many Babas and Nyonyas living abroad have had to celebrate the New Year virtually.

“This year will be extra special because we are able to gather [everyone] together. So, we are really going all out and we are feeling festive,” the 51-year-old told FMT.

While Chinese New Year is an auspicious time for all who celebrate it, traditions and rituals differ among the Peranakan Chinese.

According to Lim, a week before the first day of the Lunar New Year, family members gather to clean the ancestral altar and polish the urns.

In a traditional Peranakan Chinese home, food offerings are made during Sembahyang Abu and Sambut Kepala Tahun (Chinese New Year).

Offerings of kuih bakul are made to the Kitchen God and other deities, whom they believe will send a report to the Jade Emperor in heaven about the household.

“Kuih bakul is sweet and sticky. When it is offered to the Kitchen God, it is believed that the stickiness will seal the god’s mouth and he will say only good things about your family,” Lim explained.

One of the more significant rituals for the community is ancestor worship, which takes place on the eve of the New Year.

Known as Sembahyang Abu, Lim said family members would gather and pay respects to their loved ones who have passed away.

“Sembahyang Abu is very important because this is when everyone comes back, and relatives gather at the family home to offer thanksgiving to their ancestors,” he said.

He added that multiple delicacies are made during this time to be offered to the ancestors, including pongteh (chicken stew), chap chai (mixed vegetables), itek tim (duck soup), acar chilli (chilli pickles), and lor bak (meat rolls).

Family members get together to clean the altar and polish the urns a week before the New Year.

On the first day of Chinese New Year, also known as Sambut Kepala Tahun, tradition dictates that the first batch of rice cooked be placed at the altar and garnished with bunga siantan (red Ixora) and spring onion.

The rice, which is shaped like a cone, as well as the flower and spring onion represent growth, Lim said.

With rituals also come taboos, and because it is a joyous occasion, family members should not quarrel with one another or wear colours of mourning during the festive period.

They should also not sweep the floor on the first day as it is akin to sweeping the luck away, he added.

Lim pointed out that certain traditions were no longer being practised by some families, such as placing sugar canes behind doors and incensing the home with stanggi before opening the doors and windows.

The first batch of rice cooked on the first day of the New Year is placed at the altar and garnished with bunga siantan and spring onion. (Lim Eng Leong pic)

“There are still families practising the old traditions, but it all depends on the young if they want to do things the traditional way,” he said.

He hoped that the culture of the Babas and Nyonyas will continue to be instilled in the younger generation and not become a thing of the past.

As for why this is important, he shared: “Your culture gives you the true identity of where you are; where you are today is a result of where you come from.” - FMT