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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Any Jewelry, post: 9795074, member: 2844&quot;]They are not ethnic Chinese though. They are an old mix of Chinese and locals, which is why their culture is so specific. They are also not confined to the small area of Malaysia and Singapore, Peranakan culture is found throughout the Indo-Malay world and in some neighbouring Indo-Malay-influenced regions.</p><p>The Indo-Malay world consists of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are also ethnic Chinese in the region, in Indonesia they are known as Totoks (&#039;pure&#039; blood, also used for Europeans), whereas the Straits Chinese are called Peranakan (pertaining to child, meaning child of the land).</p><p>The term Peranakan was first coined in West Java, Indonesia.</p><p>The Chinese Totoks have a Chinese culture, which is recognizably different from Peranakan culture.</p><p>Most of the Totoks arrived in the region in the 19th century, when there was already a long-established Peranakan culture.</p><p><br /></p><p>Just an example of how long-established Peranakan culture and ethnicity is: I can trace my own (small) Peranakan roots back to the Medieval East Javanese Majapahit Empire, where one of my ancestors was a Captain of the Sino-Peranakan community of Tuban and advisor to the royal court. His daughter married into the royal family.</p><p>Most Malay foremothers of the Peranakan were not so lucky though, many of them were girls who were sold into slavery. But from their pain grew a fascinating culture.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most of the Straits are in Indonesia btw, for obvious reasons. It was the centre of the trade of minerals, (precious) metals and hardwoods, as well as spices from for instance Sumatra and the Moluccas. It is much larger than Malaysia and Singapore and it consists of over 17500 islands, so plenty of maritime straits. Along its many coasts were/are countless Peranakan communities as well as Chinese Totok ones.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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