Peranakans & Eurasions

About a century ago many Chinese people migrated to neighbour countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore etc. Those who migrated to Malaysia settle mainly in Penang, Malacca and Singapore. At that time Malaysia or rather Malaya was under the British Empire and these three places were known as the Straits Settlements. Some of these immigrants married the local people and they use a language which is a mixture of Chinese and Malay words. They are known as Peranakans. Their food, clothing and culture also have a mixture of Chinese and Malay culture. These Peranakans learnt the English language from the schools set up by the British and the English educated citizens worked in British companies. But at home they also speak the Peranakan language. Our early immigrants came here to work as labourers or craftsman or run a business to cater for the immigrants. My paternal and maternal grand parents came from China and they gave my parents an English education. Later more Chinese people came to Singapore and adopted the English language mainly because English is necessary for world trade. However we believe that must known our Chinese language as it is part of our culture. There is another group of people known as Eurasions. These are the children of the Chinese who married Europeans ( British, Dutch, Portugese etc) and they speak English. Their culture is influenced by the father's country.

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