February 17, 2025

Singapore’s Peranakan Museum reopened its doors on 17 February 2023, after a four-year closure for renovation. The Peranakan Museum features permanent galleries showcasing artifacts from Peranakan culture, detailing the unique history of Peranakans through their culture and craftsmanship. The museum also aims to capture an authentic glimpse into Peranakan life, as well as the struggles and hardships that Peranakans in Singapore had to endure.

There has been a complex history of Peranakans, due to the many influences from other racial groups and cultural practices. In ‘Orang Cina Bukan Cina: being Peranakan, (not) being Chinese and the social construction of race in Singapore’ (Identities, 2023), Dr. Zarine L. Rocha (University of Auckland and NUS Sociology & Anthropology) and Raffles Professor of Social Sciences Brenda S. A. Yeoh (NUS Geography) explore how Peranakans have navigated the associations with being Chinese to create a hybrid yet ethnically Chinese identity.

The researchers reference theories of racial formation and multiracial frameworks (such as the classification of majority ethnic groups into Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Others, or CMIO) in Singapore to understand the unique position of Peranakans. Through interviews with 32 Peranakan individuals, the researchers identified the Peranakan identity as ultimately subsumed within the Chinese category, despite its associations with Malay heritage and other indigenous cultures. They conclude that the case of Peranakan identity sheds light on the intricate dynamics of racial classification and mixed heritage, and that these changes have a deep impact on one’s sense of belonging in daily life.

Read the article here.