Dear readers,
THE PERANAKAN Magazine has finally gone digital!
It is with great pride and pleasure that I present to you the culmination of much effort by the Magazine’s Creative Team. After almost a year of conceptualising, designing and implementing, THE PERANAKAN Magazine has finally taken on a colourful new sheen in the online space.
This is a natural and inevitable transition. Many members have approached me with their feedback and concerns, mostly positive but tinged with wistfulness at the loss of the hard copy.
I would like members to know that the team does plan to publish a biennial hard copy issue, which is unfortunately subject to the availability of resources.
It was due to this lack of steady funding that The Peranakan Association’s former President, Colin Chee, first conceived the idea of a digital magazine. Since then, our current President, Genevieve Peggy Jeffs, has ensured the continuity of Colin’s foresight in her own signature fashion.
Bringing together the Baba Nyonya around the world
Euripides once remarked, “He who neglects learning his roots, loses his past and is dead for the future.” There is a simpler, concise saying in Bahasa: kacang lupakan kulit, which translates synonymously into “to forget one’s roots”.
Although it would be amiss to say that neglecting to understand our roots would leave us dead in the water, we must ask ourselves: what would it cost us if we were to lose our culture?
My answer is connection and community.
This Magazine is one such connection to our roots that is highly prized by the international Peranakan community.
Over the decades, this award-winning publication has served many functions — a vessel upon which the Peranakan community sails to navigate both the known and uncharted waters of our birthright, a lens through which we contemplate our history and gaze into the future, and a shining beacon of cultural exuberance, radiating Peranakan heritage alongside other heralds of the Singapore success story.
The connections to identity in turn created a supportive and closely-knit community. Uplifting kinsmen and selfless giving were also very much a part of how our forebears contributed to that success story.
It was the resulting communal goodwill that helped enable our society and country to prosper far beyond her geographical limitations.
What will you find within THE PERANAKAN?
THE PERANAKAN’s new format and content are specially curated to provide valuable insight to the reader.
I invite you to discover the commonalities, connections and the warmth of community within these pages. Allow yourself to be inspired by the richness of a culture depicted in lush photos, an embodiment of what it means to be a ‘melting pot’.
As a special inaugural treat, we’ll be thematically delving into the genesis of our culture at a foundational level — Peranakan architecture, and all the aspects encompassed within and without a Peranakan home.
If you are bestirred to contribute to the Magazine in any way, do reach out at editor@peranakan.org.sg. Our Creative Team is always on the lookout for talented individuals who are willing to lend their valuable skills and time.
We hope to hear from you soon!
Yours in all things Peranakan,
Bryan
Editor
