Tag: travel
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Selamat Hari Raya: A Quiet Pride in What Endures
Each year, Hari Raya arrives with a familiar rhythm. The final days of Ramadan give way to early morning prayers, the quiet exchanges of forgiveness, and the return to spaces filled with memory. It is a time that is deeply spiritual, but also unmistakably communal. In recent years, conversations around culture and tradition have often…
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Who’s Telling Our Story? The Peranakan Gathering, Cultural Appropriation, and the Silence of Malay Heritage Institutions
Last weekend, the streets of Armenian Street came alive. Vibrant colours, the smell of food, live music – all spilling out from the Peranakan Museum’s A Peranakan Gathering. Cooking demos. Performances. Workshops. Free admission. Three nights, until 10PM. It was beautifully executed. And if you know anything about Peranakan history, you’ll know this: much of…
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The Shine That Casts a Shadow: Peranakan Glamour and Indigenous Erasure
Across the southern Thai coast, the straits of Malacca, and the Javanese heartland, the Peranakan world has long flourished. This blend of Chinese, Malay, and local influences is now celebrated as a regional treasure. Museums showcase it. Festivals like Phuket’s “Sai Kabaya Pateh” market it as authentic heritage. But for those who view culture as…
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From Wax and Cloth to World Culture: The Origins and Global Influence of Batik
In recent years, batik has become visually synonymous with Peranakan culture. It appears in exhibitions, home décor, fashion editorials, and heritage narratives, often framed as a hallmark of Straits Chinese identity. This visibility has brought batik renewed attention, but it has also quietly shifted the centre of gravity of its story. The deeper origins of…
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Did the Malays Teach the Romans How to Build Ships?
A professor from Universiti Malaya recently went viral for a bold statement that caught the attention of both scholars and social media users: the Malays taught the Romans how to build ships. At first glance, this claim seems extraordinary. The Malay world and the Roman Empire were separated not only by vast oceans but by…
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Before There Was Singapore, There Was Us: The Indigenous Malays of the Island
When a TikTok user with the username “joeiboaz” began her video with the question, “Did you know Singapore has indigenous people?” , the comments section lit up with surprise. For some, it was a revelation. For others – especially Malays – it was a strange feeling. How could something so fundamental to our identity be…
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Echoes of The Indigenous Narrative: Our Story Begins Here
For centuries, the voices of Southeast Asia’s first peoples have echoed through its forests, islands, and seas, yet their stories remain unheard. The Indigenous Narrative was created to change that. Southeast Asia is a region overflowing with diversity, heritage, and culture. From its mist-covered highlands to its vast archipelagos, this land has always been home…
The Indigenous Narrative 