Where the Nyonyas tell their stories

By Christiane Oelrich Jun 22, 2010, 10:52 GMT

Georgetown, Malaysia - In times past, it was the Nyonya matrons who wore the pants in the homes on the Malaysian peninsula of Penang. They laid claim to their own salon in order to play card games. And even before their wedding they would wrangle a belt made of silver from their suitors.

'Make it as long as possible so that I can give you many children,' the Nyonyas would lovingly coo.

But the true reason behind the long belts was more profane, admits Lillian Tong, herself a Nyonya: 'The women could then separate the silver and so pay their gambling debts.'

To this day women who are descended from Chinese and indigenous Malayans are called Nyonyas. 'The Chinese wanted to start a new life here and established a new culture,' explains Ooi Goek Ling, the head of the Tourism Authority. Now, the salon and the silver belt, items of this culture, are on display in a magnificent museum on Penang.

For a long time the pearls of the Nyonya or Peranakan culture had lain in ruins. Houses collapsed, recipes went lost, trades died out. The history of Penang, which was once dubbed the 'pearl of the Orient,' had nearly become forgotten.

But two years ago the island capital of Georgetown, together with the port city of Malakka further south in Malaysia, were elevated to the status of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

Lillian Tong brings this history to life in the 'Pinan Pernakan Mansion' museum, telling anecdotes from her childhood.

'A genuine Nyonya chews betel nuts,' she cites her grandmother as having once taught her. And so little Lillian, at the age of eight or nine, would sit along with the old women, shoving betel-nut plugs into her jaws. The Malay word for betel-nut - 'Pinang' - actually lent its name for the entire island of Penang.

'As merchants, the Chinese brought in goods from around the world,' Tong noted. 'That's why you'll see here Scottish iron railings, Gothic windows, Venetian glass, English paintings and Italian furniture.' Not to mention an ancient Philips radio in the bedroom. The glass windows are painted in European traditions, but with Chinese themes. In the wardrobe are Chinese house shoes made of silk - but decorated with images of Mickey Mouse and Snow White.

Georgetown has 170,000 residents today and a lot of traffic. Luckily, the streets can easily be explored on foot. For example there's the 'Street of Harmony' which got its name because a Catholic church, a mosque, a Chinese temple and a Hindu temple are located close to each other and without any problems.

Evidence of historical multiculturalism is the Chinese, Latin, Arabic and Tamil alphabets in evidence on the buildings walls.

Those who wish to escape the urban hustle and bustle usually head to the Taman Negara Pulau Pinang National Park in the north-western part of the island. There, Joseph Teo shows visitors around. He picks grasses and plants which smell of pepper, ginger, peppermint and curry, and when Teo speaks of the animals in the forest and in the waters, one can get a genuine fright.

There is the aggressive Makake monkey, the poisonous king cobra, the garfish which at night can spring out of the water and stab fishermen in their boats with their pointed bills. Not to mention poisonous jellyfish and the carnivorous monitor lizards which feed off the jellyfish stranded on the beaches.

'We can all live together in harmony,' Teo assures his listeners with a smile.

Malaysia has even more wilderness to offer two hours' flying time away on Borneo. Kuching, capital of Sarawak Province, is the gateway to the primeval rainforest. Bako National Park is half an hour distant and can be reached either on foot or by boat.

A tour through the rainforest is strenuous. The dense foliage of the treetops creates shade, but the humidity is oppressive. Sweat pours from one's face, but the impressions gained help one almost to forget the heat.

Already at the canteen at the park's entrance a green pit viper is slithering along a leaf. Beneath the wooden planks leading through the mangrove swamps, the forest floor comes alive during ebb tide. Among the animals are shining orange- and blue-coloured crayfish.

'They want to appear as poisonous as possible so they won't get eaten up,' explains tour guide Selvam Nagalingam. Locusts and crickets are chirping away from all sides.

'The forest offers everything that a person needs,' says Nagalingam. He points out edible plants, herbs which are said to have healing powers, roots against illnesses, and ferns from which rooftops can be made. And then there are the ants - which are used for 'stitching up' cuts.

'You hold them to the wound, and they snap with their pincers. Then you twist their necks behind the head and leave the head and pincers stuck (in the wound),' he explains.

During a several-day trek Nagalingam and his guests live solely from forest products. Well, almost - 'I only carry coffee and sugar along,' he says with a laugh.