Penang’s Cultural Heritage Trail (Part 1) ~ Pinang Peranakan Museum

I have always been fascinated about Penang, especially more after having read the endless articles in the newspapers boasting about its rich heritage & culture.

As most know Georgetown has been declared as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage City quite some time back, but I never gave it much thought until I discovered that my paternal great-grandmother was actually a Penang Peranakan Nyonya. Guess that stemmed my interest in the heritage of Penang. To know more about the heritage of my forefathers, I went to visit the Pinang Peranakan Museum together with my family to discover more about the heritage of the Baba & Nyonya that I have not known anything about. 

Visiting the Pinang Peranakan Museum gave us an insight on the cultures of the Penang Babas & Nyonyas.  Their guided tours will open up your knowledge on the lifestyles of the peranakan community in Penang. You may at first think that RM10 entrance fees is rather expensive but after completing your tour of the Museum, you will feel that the RM10 is really worth it as you will leave with more knowledge & understanding of the peranakan culture...and lots of photos too (^-^)

Arriving at the gates of the museum, we were awed by the beauty of the craftsmanship of the main doorway and balcony.

 

 

PINANG PERANAKAN MUSEUM ~ The iron gates

View as entering the main gates

The entrance to the museum ~ the rustic balcony with pale green facade will seem all too familiar if you have watched the Singapore drama “The Little Nyonya”

The main courtyard greets you once entering the mansion

The main courtyard also serves as an air-well with large concrete floor as you enter the mansion.

Once entering, on the left is a beautifully wooden crafted doorway painted with gold designs.  Formerly the main entrance to the mansion (which is now closed) opens up into this room, with a large reception room for guests where many business discussions were held. Whilst the smaller room beside is where the Nyonyas gather & play ‘cherki’ (a traditional card game) while their husbands hold their discussions next door.

The doorway with its intricately crafted wooden doors

View from the top floor of the mansion

The classical staircase leading to the upper floor of the mansion

The intricate designs on the staircase

On the first floor, you can see beautiful iron work on four sides of the inner balcony.

Antique vases & stool decorate the main courtyard

Antique furnitures,chairs & windows adorn the main courtyard

Behind these beautiful windows is a dining room used for guests

Side dining chamber with western cutlery & tableware used for entertaining English guests

Main dining room used for guests~ ‘tok panjang’ literally translated as ‘long table’

Going up the lovely wooden staircase to the top floor, more antiques are displayed. Exhibits ranging from nyonya brooches (kerosang), hairpins (cucuk sanggul), traditional covered jars (kamcheng), metal belts, gold bracelets, table wares are displayed.

Angklets & Belt

Gold jewellery

Brooches, hairpins & other accessories

Traditional covered jars (Kamcheng)

Traditional tableware

Some of the chambers feature the traditional peranakan bridal rooms, bridal headwear & various vanity tables

Bridal bed

Bridal Crown worn by the Nyonya

Traditional peranakan headgear

Vanity tables in the bridal chamber

Hand sewn embroidery tablecloth

A typical nyonya bedroom

Clothes cupboard & vanity table

Sewing room where the nyonyas make their long shirt (baju panjang), embroideries & beaded shoes (kasut manik)

A beautifully embroideried ‘baju panjang’

The hallways of the top floors are complete with antique furnishings

Chair where they laze to smoke opium

Upstairs living room

 

Peranakan lacquerware carriers

Imported antique glassware

An old antique radio

In another section of the mansion stands the Ancestral Hall

In the back wing of the mansion, there is a large dining room especially for VIP guest. This room looks more stately and out of the ordinary from the rest of the dining rooms in the mansion.  Walking into this dining room feels like stepping into a totally different era ~ more to the English era.

The doorway to the VIP dining room, used for entertaining foreign guests

Tables with lovely glassware

At the far end of the dining chamber a glass door opens out to a small courtyard with a pond

The beautiful wall design

Doorway from the dining chamber to the kitchen area

The stairway used by the servants

The kitchen area also has another open air-well

Air-well in the kitchen area

 

Tableware used by the servants

Tiffin Carriers

From top left: Mortar & pestles used for pounding spices,

Food covers, kettle, pots & antique urinal pots.

Top : Peranakaan kandar baskets; Bottom : Food cover & food grinder

Flasks, cooking utensils & Chinese tea cups

Spices used in peranakan cooking

A typical peranakan cooking area

Our tour of the Pinang Peranakan Museum ended with a photo with our tour guide. You will be surprised as we are, that he is a foreigner. Honestly, our first thought when we met him was “ Huh? A foreigner? What does he know about the peranakan heritage??”  But his knowledge of the history & artefacts of the museum is far beyond any local here. ~ and he speaks fluent English too d(^-^)b

The cast of 'The Little Nyonya'