There is a special ethnic group in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore , Malaysia , Indonesia , etc. - Baba Nyonya . This ethnic group is actually the descendants of Chinese immigrants to Nanyang who have intermarried and reproduced with local Malays: men are called Baba, and women are called Nyonya. The Chinese were originally a nation that had relocated to the ground, but there have been many large-scale population migration activities in Chinese history. These migrations are either forced to migrate due to natural disasters or wars that prevent people from continuing to live normally in their hometowns, or because competitive pressures are intensifying as population grow, forced some people to go out to make a living.
In Chinese history, the relatively large-scale population migration activities include to the Guandong , to the west entrance , to the Nanyang ... Among them, trekking to the Nanyang refers to the migration of Chinese people to the Nanyang area. The Chinese have a long history of traveling to the Nanyang area. In "Han Shu Geography", it is recorded that starting from Xuwen County, Guangdong and Hepu County, Guangxi, today, it is recorded that starting from , Hepu County, Guangxi, and entering , Malay Peninsula , , Gulf of Siam , , Bay of Bengal , and all the way to the Maritime Silk Road in the south of , Indian Peninsula . It can be seen that at that time, there were Chinese people engaged in maritime trade in the Nanyang area. Among these people, they may have settled in Nanyang and intermarried with locals.
Since the Tang Dynasty , the number of Chinese immigrants who have settled in Nanyang has begun to increase in the context of great development of navigation technology. Especially in several major incidents such as Anshi Rebellion, Jingkang Rebellion, , etc., many Chinese people have gone overseas to avoid the war. After Zheng He's voyage to the West , a wave of Chinese voyage to Southeast Asia was set off. The relaxed and tightened maritime ban policy in the Ming Dynasty had a great impact on the people who relied on fishing and trade in coastal areas. Against this background, some people who rely on the sea to make a living simply moved to Southeast Asia. These people usually have to work hard for many years to gain a foothold in the local area.
In that era of extremely underdeveloped transportation conditions, generally speaking, anyone who could live in his hometown would not want to run so far. Most of the early Chinese immigrants were relatively poor in their hometowns. A considerable number of these people have not started a family, and even if they have become a family, they cannot bring their family members so far. Therefore, most early Chinese immigrants went out alone to work hard. Some Chinese immigrants settled down in the local area and became married and reborn with the locals: the girl they gave birth to is called Nyonya, and the boy is called Baba.
Another group of Chinese people went to Nanyang to settle down in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. China was forcibly opened its doors after the Opium War in 1840. At this time, the Nanyang region under the rule of Western colonists was in the process of accelerated development of , so the demand for labor was very large. At that time, Singapore, Penang, , Malacca, and other places under British rule introduced a series of preferential policies to attract Chinese workers. Against this background, a large number of Chinese people came to Nanyang to work. With the continuous integration of Chinese and local indigenous people, the Baba Nyonya group has grown and grown.
Ba Nyonya, as a descendant of the Chinese and local Malays, also has the characteristics of Chinese culture and Malay culture in terms of culture. Baba Nyonya uses a mixed language called Baba Malay . This is a language formed by the fusion of Hokkien and Malay. This language has both Chinese and Malay, but is different from pure Chinese or Malay. Baba Malay is generally only circulated within ethnic families, but cannot be used outside ethnic families. In addition to language, Baba Nyonya clothing, diet and other aspects also have the characteristics of integrating Chinese culture and local culture.
As a descendant of the intermarriage and integration of Chinese and local indigenous people, Baba Nyonya still retains the characteristics of Chinese culture, but on the other hand, it has a highly localized Southeast Asian lifestyle. Baba Nyonya, which has integrated characteristics in language, clothing, diet and other aspects, has its own ethnic characteristics compared to Southeast Asian Chinese who speak Chinese and eat Chinese food.Since they are descendants of Chinese and natives intermarriage, those Chinese who speak Chinese generally do not think that Baba Nyonya belongs to the Chinese group, and local indigenous residents also think that Baba Nyonya is different from themselves.
Early Baba Nyonya often acted as a coordinator between Chinese and local people, so both Chinese and local natives respected them more. Baba Nyonya inherited the Chinese ancestors' courage to take risks and work hard, and at the same time, they can perfectly integrate into local life. Therefore, the early Baba Nyonya had relatively high economic and social status in Nanyang. Later, Western colonists deliberately created conflicts between the Chinese, Baba Nyonya, and Malay natives out of the need for rule. As a niche group sandwiched between Chinese and Malays, Baba Nyonya began to be excluded.
Under such a background, the Malays are gradually reluctant to intermarry with Baba Nyonya again. From then on, Baba Nyonya could only intermarry with Chinese people or intermarry with families of Baba ancestry. On September 16, 1963, under British rule, Malay Peninsula 11 states, Sabah , Sarawak , Singapore and other places formed Malaysia. This combination lurked the seeds of separation from the beginning: the newly independent Malay United is a multi-ethnic society—Malays and non-Malays each account for almost half. About 74.2% of the population Singaporeans directly changed the racial structure of Malaysia after joining Malaysia.
Malaysia's independence was achieved through the struggle of Umno led by Tungku Abdul Raman , so Umno became the ruling party of Malaysia after independence; Singapore's ruling party is People's Action Party led by Lee Kuan Yew . In 1963, the coalition party composed of Umno, MCA and Congress party participated in the Singapore state elections with the support of central government . In the elections in Singapore, the Coalition Party not only did not add a seat, but even the original three constituencies were seized by the People's Action Party. For a time, the two calls for "Malay supremacy" and anti-racism in Malaysia were confronted with each other.
August 9, 1965 After the parliament urgently passed the amendment of the constitution, it expelled Singapore from Malaysia by 126 votes in favor and 0 votes against it. After Singapore became independent from Malaysia, it is committed to building a diverse, harmonious and unified society with diverse ethnic groups. In Singapore, a country dominated by Chinese, Malays, Indians and other ethnic groups can coexist equally and harmoniously, not to mention that the Baba Nyonya, which already has Chinese ancestry, will not be excluded in Singapore. The Baba Nyonya culture has been relatively well preserved in Singapore.
Baba Nyonya accounts for only about 2% of the total population of Singapore, but Singapore has always paid attention to protecting and carrying forward the Baba Nyonya culture. In 2008, Singapore New Media Television Company produced a Chinese-language TV series called " Little Nyonya ". The Baba Nyonya culture, which is protected in Singapore, has also become a characteristic tourism resource. In comparison, Malaysia has more Baba Nyonya cultural resources, but Malaysia’s efforts to protect and develop Baba Nyonya culture are obviously not as strong as Singapore. Now some people think of Singapore when they talk about the concept of "Nyonya", but there may not be so many people who think of Malaysia at the first time.
