Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum

Melaka, the historical state of Malaysia, is also one of the four UNESCO World Heritage sites in Malaysia. It was listed as one of the cultural heritage sites in 2008, together with Georgetown in Penang, for its colourful history of cultural and trading exchanges between the East and West a few hundred years ago.

Many popular historical attractions have become much sought after by tourists and foreigners. The museums that tell the olden days’ stories in Melaka are among the most famous.

Some of the renowned museums in Melaka are the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum, the Museum of History and Ethnography at the Stadthuys, a bright red building built by the Dutch in 1650, and the Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum.

The Baba-Nyonya, or Peranakan Chinese, are the descendants of Chinese traders who migrated to the British Straits Settlements of Melaka. It was common for Chinese traders back then to take Malay or Indonesian women as wives or concubines, which explains the mixed culture and heritage of the Peranakan Chinese. They then embraced some of the local Malay customs into their culture.

Despite the adaption of the local Malay culture, Peranakan Chinese are not Muslims, as often thought. They have a distinctive culture that is still strictly adhered to now. They converse among themselves in Bahasa Malaysia, and the ladies wear the traditional Malay kebaya. It is estimated there are 500,000 Peranakan Chinese still living in Malaysia.

Located at No. 48-50 along Jalan Tun Cheng Lock in Melaka, the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum is a collection of three beautifully restored houses arranged to look like a typical 19th-century Baba-Nyonya residence.

Excellent examples of Chinese-Palladian style, these townhouses, built-in 1896, were transformed into a traditional Peranakan museum in later years. It is connected by a shared covered footway.

The Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum features hand-painted tiles, elaborately carved teakwood outer swing doors and a sturdier internal door which provides extra security.

Framed by Greco-Roman columns, two red lanterns, one bearing a household name and the other good luck messages, hang on either side of the entrance.

The upper level of the house has a short canopy of Chinese tiles above the portico, which frames the almost-Venetian shuttered windows. Boasting distinctively east-meets-west allure, the glass windows feature wrought-iron grilles, and the eaves and fascias are covered with painted, floral designs.

Inside the house, there is a collection of gold-leaf fixtures, Chinese- and Dutch-design black wood furniture inlaid with mother of pearl and skilfully carved lacquer screens and Victorian chandeliers.

Touring this traditional Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum (Peranakan) townhouse transports you to a time when women peered at guests through decorative partitions. Built-in 1659 by Dutch settlers, it was thoroughly rebuilt by Mr Chan, owner of a rubber plantation, in 1896. It’s now owned by the seventh generation of the Chan family. Every social situation had its specific location within the house.