Events & Festivals in Singapore.

Date : Monday, December 14, 2009
Time : 11:08 AM
Title : The trip to the Peranakan Museum

Reading about the Peranakan Festival fueled my interest to know more about the culture so I decided to go to the Peranakan Museum for a field trip. The Peranakan Museum is located at 39 Armenian Street, Singapore 179941.

Photo taken from the Peranakan Museum Website.

The museum explores the culture of the Peranakan communities in the former Straits Settlements of Singapore, Penang, Malacca and their other links in Southeast Asia. It is an amazing place to learn about the culture. The museum exhibits the lifestyle of the Peranakans in ten galleries with special programme exhibition introduced throughout the year.

Here are some photos I snapped (some with the help of the security guards!) :

At the Food & Feasting gallery, a wide variety of Peranakan utensils was on display. I noticed that each utensil was designed with detailed and colorful patterns, and I think it would take several hours or maybe days to really study the intricate designs found on these utensils!

An extensive collection of the utensils on display.

At the Wedding gallery, the 12-days Peranakan Wedding was elaborated.

Above is the 'Bakul Siah' - a traditional wedding basket used for gift exchange.

I was clearly admiring the Pagoda tray. These magnificent trays are used to bear important wedding gifts like jewellery; furthermore, the designs found on the trays were really unique as it was extremely detailed and you would need a better lens to properly study the designs.

Those hooks are used by the Peranakans to hang their luxurious curtains.
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I was aware of the ongoing private jewellery collections by the Peranakan families;
The Baba Bling exhibition. Unfortunately, I was prohibited from taking any photographs while in the exhibition.

There was an extensive collection of unique jewellery on display. Most of the jewellery have sapphire stones on them, some even have diamonds. I learned that the jewellery is worn by the Peranakan women to display their family wealth so during the good times, they would wear golden belts, and diamond-studded kerongsang, also known as brooches - used to fasten their traditional kebayas. Both the quality and the size of the kerongsang displays her husband's wealth and status in the community, as such, it is often looked upon in the community's important functions.

An example of a kerongsang taken from The Peranakan Association website.

It can be seen during their hard times that the Peranakan ladies would only have plain metal jewellery with no diamonds.

The Peranakans do not use golden jewellery during mourning periods, but they would instead use specially crafted silver and pearl pieces.

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Finally, I ended my trip feeling satisfied about all the knowledge I gained from visiting the museum. I urge all of you to take some time off your busy schedule and go visit the unique museum and be enlightened with what they have there.

In conclusion, I think this whole effort of promoting and preserving the Peranakan culture is a good effort done by the Peranakan Association. With the existence of such events, the public will be educated either directly or indirectly.

For more information on the Peranakan Museum, kindly visit its website or just click on the link provided on the left side of the blog.

- Posted by Sunarti

Events & Festivals in Singapore.
The Authors We are a group of students working on a school project based on the events and festivals in Singapore. Disclaimer This blog is for a school project and the information provided is correct at time of blogging. Music Links Anime Festival Asia 09 Singapore Peranakan Museum Past November 2009 December 2009 Thanks Designer: xoxo, Basecodes: California blue	Date : Monday, December 14, 2009 Time : 11:08 AM Title : The trip to the Peranakan Museum Reading about the Peranakan Festival fueled my interest to know more about the culture so I decided to go to the Peranakan Museum for a field trip. The Peranakan Museum is located at 39 Armenian Street, Singapore 179941. Photo taken from the Peranakan Museum Website. The museum explores the culture of the Peranakan communities in the former Straits Settlements of Singapore, Penang, Malacca and their other links in Southeast Asia. It is an amazing place to learn about the culture. The museum exhibits the lifestyle of the Peranakans in ten galleries with special programme exhibition introduced throughout the year. Here are some photos I snapped (some with the help of the security guards!) : At the Food & Feasting gallery, a wide variety of Peranakan utensils was on display. I noticed that each utensil was designed with detailed and colorful patterns, and I think it would take several hours or maybe days to really study the intricate designs found on these utensils! An extensive collection of the utensils on display. - At the Wedding gallery, the 12-days Peranakan Wedding was elaborated. Above is the 'Bakul Siah' - a traditional wedding basket used for gift exchange. I was clearly admiring the Pagoda tray. These magnificent trays are used to bear important wedding gifts like jewellery; furthermore, the designs found on the trays were really unique as it was extremely detailed and you would need a better lens to properly study the designs. Those hooks are used by the Peranakans to hang their luxurious curtains. - I was aware of the ongoing private jewellery collections by the Peranakan families; The Baba Bling exhibition. Unfortunately, I was prohibited from taking any photographs while in the exhibition. There was an extensive collection of unique jewellery on display. Most of the jewellery have sapphire stones on them, some even have diamonds. I learned that the jewellery is worn by the Peranakan women to display their family wealth so during the good times, they would wear golden belts, and diamond-studded kerongsang, also known as brooches - used to fasten their traditional kebayas. Both the quality and the size of the kerongsang displays her husband's wealth and status in the community, as such, it is often looked upon in the community's important functions. An example of a kerongsang taken from The Peranakan Association website. It can be seen during their hard times that the Peranakan ladies would only have plain metal jewellery with no diamonds. The Peranakans do not use golden jewellery during mourning periods, but they would instead use specially crafted silver and pearl pieces. - Finally, I ended my trip feeling satisfied about all the knowledge I gained from visiting the museum. I urge all of you to take some time off your busy schedule and go visit the unique museum and be enlightened with what they have there. In conclusion, I think this whole effort of promoting and preserving the Peranakan culture is a good effort done by the Peranakan Association. With the existence of such events, the public will be educated either directly or indirectly. For more information on the Peranakan Museum, kindly visit its website or just click on the link provided on the left side of the blog. - Posted by Sunarti