Histories... Olden Times... Penang... (PART 2)

#41
5th April

The first part of this title not enough to talk about the cultures of Penang. This time, I will help you to take a further investigation about the cultures, festivals, ethnics, events, arts and also shopping in Penang!!! I like that too!!!

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This is about the Malay Customs in Penang, but it also can be found in whole Malaysia:

Malay customs practiced in Penang and other states in Malaysia somewhat differ from place to place. There are some common aspects that cover rituals throughout their lives. The Malays as a race are somewhat divided into many other ethnic groups, depending on their geographical locations.

However, some of them do share a few common principles. The old Malays have a saying: "Biar mati anak jangan mati adat" It means: "We'd rather let our children die than abandoning our customs". Sounds harsh maybe, but that is the way it goes in this part of the world.
Malay customs include elaborate rituals, table manners, costumes for daily wear and also for special occasions, filial piety, way of working and a myriad of beliefs, taboos, do's and don'ts.

Kompang is a hand-held drum made of cow's hide.
A lot of traditional paraphernalia are used during all these ceremonies. They involve costumes as well as crafts especially made for the event. Some of them include tepak sirih (betel nut holder), sirih junjung (betel leaves floral arrangement), pulut kuning (yellow glutinous rice), sintok limau (kaffir lime). All these are synonym with Malay customs. Musical instruments include kompang (hand-held drums) and nafiri (flute).

Before Birth

The rituals and ceremonies will accompany Malay men or women since birth to their deaths. From the wombs of their mothers, unborn babies are blessed during their seventh month of pregnancy. This ceremony is called "melenggang perut". Literally meaning "blessing the belly". What happen during this ceremony is a coconut with its husk cleanly shaven off is rolled on the tummy of the mother-to-be.
A midwife who is well versed with the arcane art of divinity can predict whether the baby will be a boy or a girl just by looking the way the coconut roll off the belly. Later on, the coconut is halved and its juice poured into a glass for the pregnant woman to consume, blessed with magical incantation mixed with verses from the Al-Quran. The Malaya believe that coconut juice, if regularly drunk, will assist in easier delivery of the baby.

Here is an entertaining description about this ritual, as explained by Wan, a Malay language teacher. Istiadat Melenggang Perut.

Newborn

Baby's head shaving
done by a Malay midwife.

Newborn babies, as in everywhere in the world, are precious bundles of joy, especially if it is a male first-born child.
Naturally, boys are treated differently from girls. One of the common ceremonies that is carried out is the shaving ceremony whereby the hair of the baby is shaven clean.
The idea is that, the hair that grows inside the womb is unclean and the scalp needs to be scraped of any residue that comes out of the womb. Sintok and fresh lime are used to clean the scalp.
In the picture you can see a midwife performing the shaving ceremony with a normal safety razor.
In the old days, very sharp cut-throat razors were used instead. It is definitely a highly skilled job to be able to shave the baby's head without hurting him.
The kaffir lime is cut into slices and the pieces let fall into the water. It is believed that the way the lime falls in the water may give an indication of the behavior of the baby when he grows up. This is of course mere superstitious because if we were to believe all these beliefs, no one will be able to move forward at all in their lives.

Rinsing the baby in lime-scented water.

After shaving, the baby is bathed with warm water, scented with sliced kaffir lime to freshen him up. Some babies cry during this ordeal but most remain calm because the midwives are able to say the magic words seeking protection from God from any untoward incident.
Along the way, the babies may or not be circumcised, for the baby girls, the ceremony is done before they reach two years old. Nowadays it is common for baby girls to be circumcised as soon as they are born at the hospital.
One of Malay customs that is losing its popularity is the "first step on the ground" ceremony. The baby, by this time has grown into a toddler are guided to touch the ground with its bare feet. This is party time. Normally done to coincide with the baby's first birthday.

Pre-pubescent years

Around the age of ten to twelve, the circumcision ceremony for boys is normally carried out. For girls, it is ear-piercing ceremony. These two rituals normally coincide with "berkhatam Quran", whereby the children finished learning reciting the Holy Book from a Guru. Yellow glutinous rice is always served during these festivities. This special rice dish symbolizes prosperity.

Adulthood

Well, what else is there when you reach adulthood? Parents expect their grown up children to start a family of their own. Malays observe truly elaborate and complicated rituals before even a betrothal can take place. Even though many of these steps are no longer in practice, it is interesting to know them. Here are the steps:

• Merisik ("spying" if the young lady is still available)
• Bertandang (visit of the future in-laws to "view" the young lady in question)
• Cincin tanda (exchanging of rings and gifts signifying that she is taken)
• Bertunang (betrothal, formal engagement)
• Bernikah (the official union done by the Imam)
• Kenduri/Bersanding (wedding feast)

Bersanding is part of the ceremony
in a Malay wedding

There are many taboos to observe so as not to give offense to anyone. After all, this is a very serious matter. Future in-laws will have many meetings to determine the suitability of the union. Then, there is also the matter of the dowry which is usually the main thing that the whole village want to know. There is a lot of heartache associated with a broken engagement. For the Malays, being highly sensitive and proud in nature, even a broken engagement will bring a lot of shame to the whole family, let alone a divorce.
In the old days, most marriages were arranged by the parents or relatives. The young couple sometimes never met until on their wedding day. During this modern days, Malay couples flirt and go on dates just like everyone else.
After the wedding, the cycle repeats, when the couple have their firstborn. Along the way, some people die. Death is a solemn affair, the dead is handled following the Islamic rites. Before, during and after the burial, there are prayers. Mourning is observed for forty days. On the fortieth day usually, members of the family of the deceased usually will feed the poor so that the act of the alms will ease the passing of the dead.
Between all the rituals mentioned above, there are a whole lot more to learn about Malay customs. If you truly want to understand the culture, it is best to live among the community and take part in the rituals and ceremonies that are held.
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This is about the Baba and Nyonya cultures, mostly can be found in Penang and Melaka:
Baba and nyonya culture in Penang is pretty different from the ones in Malacca (Melaka), Medan, Singapore or Kota Bharu. If there is a group of Nyonyas and Babas in Melaka who speak exclusively Malay, their counterpart in Penang speak a mixture of Hokkien, Malay and English. The food also has a slight variation too. Not surprising in this sense, since the two places are geographically different.

Penang Peranakan Mansion at Church Street.

The Babas and Nyonyas are of ethnic Chinese but they were born in Penang.
They adopt a lot of local clothing, food, language and culture too in their daily lives. Mainly from the Malay and European culture.
For example, the Nyonya food uses a lot of chilies to make sambal in their food.
There is a dish called Sambal Hei Bee (Sambal Udang kering) and there is a snack called Roti Ayam which uses chopped fresh chilies as the sauce. They are also famous for tiny cakes called nyonya kuih. The amount of time and effort that went into making these cakes are amazing.
This is from the influence of Malay dining habit which does not consider a meal is complete without chilies or anything spicy.
In terms of their clothing, the men adopt the western style of clothing mainly for daily wear. They wear Chinese style tunic for special occasions. The ladies, on the other hand, have a lot of choice in fashion.
One set of attire that is associated with the Nyonyas is the kebaya. This item of clothing originally came from the royal Indonesian court. The intricate embroidery that is embedded in the design makes each of the kebaya unique. The patterns are normally inspired by nature, intertwined vines or tropical birds and butterflies. They are truly beautiful and it is a dying art too since there are not many skilled artisans left to sew the kebaya the old way.

Tiffin carriers used by the Nyonyas

In terms of language, you can see a sprinkling of Malay words in the Hokkien dialect as spoken in Penang, like the word: "suka", meaning "like".
The old Malay ways of entertainment like joget, dondang sayang and ronggeng also were enjoyed by the Paranakan Cina in Penang. The type of dancing by the nyonyas uses props like sapu tangan (using handkerchiefs), tarian kipas (using fans), mangkuk tingkat (tiffin carrier) and even oranges.
The majority of the Babas became learned academics instead of turning into enterprising businessmen. They were sent by their parents mainly to study in England. As such, the younger generations were very much influenced by the western ways.
I was very delighted when I came across a book of Baba and Nyonya poetry written by Johny Chee a few weeks ago. It is a treasure that captures much of the essence of the culture from the perspective of daily rhymes and slang. If you want to know more about Baba and Nyonya culture in Penang, this book is highly recommended. The second edition comes with a CD so that you can listen and pronounce the words correctly.
On the other hand, if you wish to see the grandeur of the lifestyle of a bygone era, a visit to the Peranakan Mansion is a must. It showcases many fine examples of Baba and Nyonya culture in Penang.
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Traditional ethnic clothes must not keep away from Penang, that's important:
Even though Penang can be called a metropolitan city, traditional ethnic clothes, which have been worn for the last two hundred years or so, still survive.

A group of Peranakan China (Babas and Nyonyas), with the ladies wearing kebaya and batik sarong. (Photo from the private collection of Dr. Farish A. Noor and the www.Othermalaysia.org research project)

Modern day Nyonyas with some of the ladies
wearing kebayas in several styles.

The best times to see them are during weddings, special occasions, religious festivities and also whenever there are cultural showcases being performed for tourists and visitors.

Young ladies of Penang wearing minority ethnic Chinese costumes

Some government or formal functions also call for traditional ethnic clothes as dress codes, so they do get a bit of attention once in a while.
Usually for semi-formal functions, clothes made using batik (either silk, polyester or cotton) are widely used.
Traditional ethnic clothes are hardly practical to be used in all their glory for daily wear, due to their elaborate way of wearing and also the high cost. So, it is quite understandable that most of them had to be tailor-made, which drives the cost even higher.
Cheaper version can be had. They are mass produced and sold at normal stores but of course the quality and the fit are not as good as the more expensive ones. The fashion also evolves over the year especially for ladies wear.

This is a "pendekar" (Malay warrior) costume. The samping uses "kain pelikat". The kris is worn as a weapon.

In order to be fully decked in such traditional costumes, a lot of accessories are required to complete the look. For example, it would not do for a man to wear baju Melayu while wearing a pair of western style shoes.
They have to be worn with a pair of sandals instead. These sandals are known as "chapal". They are also no buttons for the top, instead, five sets of cuff-links are used to secure the collar, "baju cekak musang".
The fabric? Since Penang is in the tropics, it makes sense to use materials which are light and airy. The sarong is universally worn by many races.
For the immigrants of Penang back in the 19th century, wearing batik and eating the local food were some of the ways to blend themselves with the native people.
It is very common to see a Nyonya wearing batik sarong, neat with a chignon and a cotton blouse or kebaya. We can also see Indian ladies wearing batik sarong with her top too.
For the Malays, batik sarong is worn as daily attire, in every which way for both men and women.
Peranakan Jawi, China or Arab resulted from intermarriages between all these ethnic groups and add to the colors of attire worn by people of Penang.
Batik using cotton or synthetic materials are widely used. For more regal occasions, songket, saree and brocade are chosen. These materials are truly expensive because they use gold and silver thread.

Modern variations of kebaya (left) compared to the older versions.
Photo on the right is from the private collection of Dr. Farish A. Noor and the www.Othermalaysia.org research project.

What about the style? You can bet, with all the ethnic groups in Penang, the styles are mixed and matched following the current trend. We can see Chinese nyonyas wearing kebaya with batik sarong. We can see a Malay lady wearing baju kurungusing the material meant for saree. It is also possible to see a young lady with tight jeans using sheer kebaya as a jacket instead of a western style top.

Indian men and women in their traditional clothes during Thaipusam

If we check the men's clothing, elderly Indian men wear dhotis, Malay men wearsamping which could be made out of songket or kain pelikat and Chinese men wear loose trousers and sam foo. The cut sometimes steers away from the tradition, for a more comfortable fit.

A variety of style of Indian
traditional clothes for ladies.

Traditional ethnic clothes are divided by racial groups but there are some common traits. For example, it is normal for the ladies to use a shawl. It is a sign of modesty.
Ladies also invariably wear long dresses or skirts, except for the salwar kameez, an Indian costume, which consists of a loose top paired with a pair of pants. The salwar kameez suit for official functions is very elegant when it is worn together with apashmina shawl.
A lot of press has been received by nyonya kebaya lately. What are they? Let's check out this article which examines these unique traditional ethnic clothes worn by the Straits Settlement Chinese ladies.
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All of I want to say today is about cultures and ethnic of the Penang only, there's still a lot of theoies I need to figure out. Next time, I will talk about the events, festivals and arts in Penang at Part 3.
Bye!!!