The “Baba” refers to an ethic group who first settled in this country since the 15^th century, and is a category of the Peranakan (mix-blood) Chinese. Besides, several definitions have been given to the term “Baba”. According to J.D Vaughan, Baba is what the natives of Bengal call European children. This term is also used by the Indians in Penang when referring to the Chinese, whereas Felix Chia thought that it is possible that the Chinese who settled in Malacca married locals and subsequently produced Babas.

However, historically, Baba refers to Chinese people whose heritage is mixed with the locals in Malacca. They introduce themselves as Baba or Peranakan. The term “Baba” actually refers to the Malaccan Baba.

The Baba culture has accumulated various artifacts. The Baba has a unique and individual way of life, as a result of their assimilation with the locals. Whatever the reality is, what is clear is that the Baba culture is an example of a Chinese culture enriched with local tradition, in this case, the Malaccan Malay traditions.

The ethnic Baba can be identified from several aspects such as clothes, food and language. The Baba community has a Malay like culture, but fundamentally they believe in the Chinese ethnic culture integration principles. The Babas are seen as different from the Chinese in Malaysia because although they are known as Chinese as explained above, they are seen to have more Malay traits. The Baba identity is a result of the acculturation process. The most easily recognised cultural traits of Baba are significantly acculturated traits which reinforce stereotype perceptions.

Clothes

To this day many Nyonya (Baba women) wears the sarong and top called Kebaya. The Nyonya clothing is different and is an identity of the Baba community. The clothes sets the Babas side from the Chinese and other Babas who usually do not wear sarong and kebaya .

Lately however non-Baba Chinese are starting to wear the sarong, so much so that there is now a small number of non Baba Chinese who are comfortable with wearing the sarong.

There are however still differences between the clothing of the Chinese community and the Baba community in that the kebaya worn by the Baba requires three pairs of “kerongsang” (accessories) to be used as buttons while in Malay culture, no buttons are used.

Cooking

Baba cooking is similar to the Malays. However, although it is a combination of Malay and Chinese cooking, it still has its Baba food identity.

Nyonya cooking refers to Nyonya dishes, mostly meat and vegetables. Nyonya cooking is usually very spicy and uses a lot of chillies. The heavy use of chillies in cooking is what differentiates the Baba from the Chinese.

The Baba community still practices a traditional custom related to praying to ancestors, which is, the use of the long table or “lauk tok panjang”. This is a custom where special dishes are cooked as prayer food on certain days.

Among the Nyonya cooking which received Malay influence are the use of prawn paste, candle nut, tamarind, galangal, lemon grass and preserved fruits. Nyonya dishes still retaining its Nyonya identity are dishes such as “ponteh” (pork with salted soy beans/tauchu), “tem duck” (duck in salted vegetables), “cak bek” (pork in soy sauce and ginger). The use of pork is what differentiates Nyonya cooking from Malay. In addition, the “cang Nyonya” and “cang abu” cakes are special dishes for the Babas.

Language

A cultural aspect of the Baba which is clearly different from the Chinese but is similar to Malay would be the Baba-Malay dialect as the dialect mimics the Hokkien language. The Baba language is a combination of three languages, which are Malay, English and Hokkien.

Marriage

Marriage in the Baba community is unique in that it is assimilated with the local culture. Traditional weddings are known for being old style weddings and one of the most interesting customs is the “cheo thau” ceremony.

This starts at the bride’s house where the high altar is raised facing the main door of the living room. Parents of the couple will light candles on the table. Cheo Thau is a ceremony to join the husband and wife, and is done to let the couple that they are now married and face the world together without their family’s protection. This ceremony is done in the early morning between 3.00 to 4.00 a.m or after midnight.

In the meantime, the cloth used to cover the sam kai table is called “tok wee” . This Tok Wee cloth has many colours with an eternal hexagonal pattern representing long life, prosperity and knowledge.

Placed on the sam kai are two candles. They are wrapped in red paper which is also decorated with patterns of eight. Behind these candles small bowls with red and white cakes called “ih”, are placed. This cake is first handmade into doughballs before being mixed together with boiled syrup. The “ih” cake will also be eaten by the bride and bridegroom at the next event.