The construction and re-construction of Peranakan identity in Southeast Asia has been
tied to many colonial and post-colonial political agendas. Peranakan identity is one that
was inherently tied to the colonization of the Malay Peninsula and the islands of
Indonesia. Peranakan identity formed as male Chinese settlers in Southeast Asia
intermarried with local women and integrated into local culture. In the early period,
Peranakan culture often provided a transitional identity as individuals assimilated.
Under British colonial rule Peranakan identity became a means of distinguishing
established Southeast Asian Chinese families from newer and poorer Chinese
immigrants.
During the British colonial period Peranakan identity often was associated with
wealthy, refined, English educated individuals who held power as colonial middlemen.
As political power shifted in post-colonial Singapore, Singaporean nationalists
suppressed problematic aspects of Peranakan identity. People who defined themselves
as Peranakan were encouraged to assimilate into a majority Chinese population as
aspects of Peranakan domestic life were memorialized and glamorized. The image of the
Nyonya, symbolized by the traditional costume of the sarong-kebaya, has been
appropriated and redefined by Singapore Airlines. Their “Singapore Girl” represents the
nation of Singapore to its citizens and to the world.