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This 2024, in conjunction with the Visit Melaka Year 2024 tourism campaign by the Malaysian government, Melaka’s own shopping mall The Shore held its own Peranakan Festival Malaysia. The two-day festival was launched on 3rd August 2024 and followers of The Shore Shopping Gallery Facebook page can catch snippets of the event, especially if you’re outside Melaka, the historical city (I was invited to ‘follow’ their page, after having ‘liked’ one of their publicity materials for this event). Interestingly, from one of the snippets, the Penang flag was also captured. Perhaps this serves as a nod to the Pearl of the Orient or Pulau Mutiara that the Peranakans are also found there and not just confined to Melaka itself. The event requires participant registration to the various colourful and memorable competitions. Besides a forum “Bulat Air kerana Pembetung, Bulat Kata kerana Muafakat”, there was a book sale on everything to do with the Babas and Nyonyas that will be spread over two days.

Included in the 4th of August lineup are a poster drawing competition based on a pantun as well as something to do with Baba Malay, which is usually only used by the older generations of Babas and Nyonyas. So, if your elders have passed on this way of life and you still maintain speaking the unique Bahasa Baba, you might want to try your luck in this competition.

The event also takes place during a special month for Malaysians, as it would be when Malaysia’s National Day is observed on the 31st.  So the forum that was held is a good avenue for healthy discussion about how to encourage the coming together, despite differing perspectives.

The event was made possible with backing by Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka (DBP), Tourism Malaysia, Mamee and Bernama, among others like the relevant Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian and the Rotary Club of Melaka. While the closing ceremony will take place at 12 pm today, the book sale will go on until 2pm.