Malacca History (2)

In this post, I give you the details of my gene-rich Malacca heritage.

Well, being born and raised in Malacca, I inherit a weird background, that I stand nowhere but somewhere on this Earth.

I am a third generation Dutch from my maternal Burgher grandmother who came from Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

I am probably 16th generation Ming Chinese from my paternal grandmother who could be related to Yap Ah Loy somewhere from Chow Kit market area where a lot of Chinese grew vegetables, even my paternal-maternal great grandfather had a Malay name but a Chinese suffix when I know he is probably Indonesian from his facial features. 

I am 10th generation Hadrami Arab from my paternal grandfather whom I have never met as he died before my parents got married. From his photos in my dad's pendrive, he looks Indian or a dark Malay but a funny thing is all my uncles are fair Chinese except my dad who looks Indian to me, and I take 50% Indian features from him. This week I heard he is Bugis - that's 3 years posthumous identification! 

I had a maternal grandfather whom I couldn't make out what he was - I had thought he was in the wrong place, which is true. Some 24 years after he died, I had the opportunity of Indian colleagues in my dept, who are well-travelled and they identified my grandfather to be a typical Indian, and specifically from Madras! Can you believe that?! That positive identification helped solved a lot of mysteries about him. 

I then presented the same photo of my maternal grandfather to a Malay-Arab, one of my Syed uncles. He said my grandfather was most probably Indian with a lot of Arab infusion based on the probable location of his birthplace! I almost fainted! His birth certificate can't be found. Without proper birth identification, it is hard to tell a person's background and inheritance. I then visited the large graveyard in Jalan Perak where my grandfather used to go every Aidilfitri. I was told earlier this year (2012) his ancestors were all interred there, in a special plot some distance from Makam Dato' Keramat (after who Jalan Dato' Keramat is named). I don't know keramat and qaromah stuff. But I guess, having an ancestral plot near the Makan could mean my grandfather's ancestors were probably workers for Dato' Keramat or his people, or else they would not be buried in the area close to Makam Dato' Keramat. 

Now back to me, I am nowhere but somewhere. I am Malay Bugis Burgher Indian Dutch German Chinese and Arab, or MBBIDGCA for short. If that is not enough, then try and add Princess van Rooyen, Sultan Mansor Shah and Princess Hang Li Poh to the picture. What do you get? That's who I am from a historical standpoint. To make it even stranger, I am married to a Chinese-Malay. So if you expect me to dress in baju kurung, I will of course laugh. If you expect me to dress in short skirt and blouse and wear high heels, I will also laugh. I am modestly dressed as my female ancestors have dressed before me - with a lose long dress and scarf (like old mother hubbard). 

A lot of people have problems trying to fit me somewhere and usually they will ask - "Are you Malay or not Malay?" Of course I will answer "Saya orang Melayu tapi saya boleh cakap English" and then the conversation goes on in English. My husband had thought I was Eurasian until I told him "I'm not!" Even the Filipinos thought I was a Filipino. I am Malay by today's Malaysian definition.

The only one thing that distinguishes me from the typical orang Melayu is my food - I eat Mediterranean cuisine for heavy meals and Chinese cuisine for the light meals. I like sandwiches. I don't have snacks. That was how I was brought up. 

The first Malay food I learned from my Malay teenage friends was nasi goreng with mixed vegetables. Then I have never stopped cooking Malay food. I have added Thai friend rice, etc to my culinary skills. I'm learning nasi biryani but still not getting it right yet. 

In a nutshell, I can say that Malay is just a label and living in Malaysia means you just live as you please. There is no need to stick to being Malay, Chinese, Indian, etc since everyone is so mixed that it doesn't matter and shouldn't matter anymore. 

So, is Malacca a great city and empire? I would say yes and no. What else did we benefit from having Malacca in Malaysia? I think a mixed heritage not only in the houses and cultures we see today, but also the genes have mixed so much that we all have 'global genes'. That's how I look at Malacca and its importance. Being a Malacca person makes it even more real and a living proof. 

I have no problem adapting and going on living anywhere on Earth, so long as it is not a cold place. I prefer places with Mediterranean climate. When I was in San Francisco, a Chinese restaurant owner asked me if I could do regular cooking demo for his restaurant! He must think I knew how to cook Chinese cuisine so well?! 

In any mixed cultural setting, there is one thing that we must learn to accept and that is despite being culturally different, socially we must try and look to our different cuisines as a binding force and try each other's cuisine for there is a lot to learn, and I think we will all be happy when we try different foods of the different ethnic groups. There is already teamwork at the workplace but sometimes teams don't function so well, and falling outside a team is often better.

I'm baking olive bread this morning and that is a Greek recipe. Olives are mentioned in the Quran. I take it that olive bread is a healthy option (based on its chemical property) and can be made a global item for Muslim dining (can suggest that to Halal Hub). That is how I look at coming together as a nation and globally. 

I still don't understand why people still want to wage war. There is no need for war. When one is of mixed heritage like myself, there is a lot of peace in the heart and mind that war doesn't come into the picture at all. Why do we need war? Why are people after power struggle? Why do people still want to kill? Why do people still want to plunder poor countries? Tell me why? Why do we have so much politics and back-biting? Even the religion Islam tells us what happiness we can have on this earth by coming together. Why can't we be humans and behave like humans should?

Need to check on my olive bread - it is also in my cooking blog.

External links:
http://www.expatgomalaysia.com/article/1773/revenge-conquest-and-a-murder-plot-learn-more-about-melakas-turbulent-history

Malacca Malays

Malacca Malays fall into a few distinct types. Most are mixes and they live in towns (urbanised). The pure Malays are usually of Bugis descent and often of dark complexion.  They live is far out villages and some are farmers. Their counterparts are Bugis of fair complexion and can be found in the far reaches of rivers of Terengganu, Pahang and Selangor (most are sea-farers and they travel by sea or river). The mixed Malays are distinct but can be confusing trying to discern where they actually belong. The Indian-Portuguese mixes are dark and they can be found in the Portuguese Settlement. I've found some who even migrated as far as Sabah, Borneo island. The Chinese-Portuguese mixes are often tan and they may also live in the Settlement. The Malay-Portuguese are very rare because they cannot marry on religious grounds. The Chinese can be pure bred and they inbreed to keep wealth within limits. However, some do marry outside the clan, and they give rise to the Malay Nyonya & Malay Baba. These people look Chinese and often have fair complexion. They speak Malay and dress like Malay kampung folks. They speak Nyonya-Baba Malay which is very distinct and only they speak this type of Malay. When they speak, they also joke, and when it's really a big joke, they laugh so loud (boleh pecah rumah). Another type of mixed Malays are the Arab-Malays. They are usually dark but after many generations of marrying to the Chinese, they can become fair but not as fair as the pure bred Chinese. They do have slant eyes but they speak very good Malay. They can be called Baba-Nyonya but often they are regarded as orang atas (big people) and given some high status in society. Thus, they go by salutation and when you hear the salutation, you know their status within their community. The most noticeable salutation is Inche which became Enchik for males and now Encik. When the salutation is used, the maiden name is automatically dropped and never asked, and usually nobody knows the real names of such women. There are many women in Malacca who are known by a single syllable and nothing else! There is another group of Malays who are very dark and their nose and cheeks very prominent. These are the Chetty people. Their women dress in tight small kebaya. Another group of Malays is the Malay mixes with Chinese and who may have slant eyes or normal eyes but they dress in long loose kebaya panjang. These elegant women are from the higher class and usually their fathers or relatives work for the Malay Sultans in nearby Malay states. These ladies have Chinese call names and Malay full names. Often the full Malay names are unknown and they go by just the call names. They usually work/exist in a group of related individuals of three (don't ask me why three). There is a group of Malays in Malacca who have natural tight curly orange hair and blue irises. These are Malays from Cocos Keeling island of Australia. They are Malay and speak Malay but sometimes they can't understand what we say in Malay. They are the result of inbreeding which went on on Cocos Keeling island long ago. I can't recall the inbreeding anymore. You may be able to dig up old history books for that. The White man who owned the Malay slaves needed manual labour to farm the island so inbreeding was done (don't ask me how but there's only one way). The Malay slaves were paid shells. I have seen them and they have rosy cheeks and freckles. If only one Malay was there and the White man was master, and the slave raped, of course every child will bear the features of the White master. That's history.

Overall, I think the Malacca Malays are most complicated but most fascinating of all the Malays in this big Malay Archipelago.  I'm not from Cocos Keeling island. I'm from the Malacca Malays and have been mistaken for a Portuguese or Eurasian and such weird mixes.