MDDP - Lost Culture

Lost Culture

"(You) presuppose a "Dutch culture" exists in Malacca...where...? I'm sorry, I ALWAYS call a spade a spade...IF it hadn't been for the British the "Dutch Square" would have ceased to exist"

"I have also met many so-called "Dutch Eurasians" (I'm talking from Malacca), who HAVE NO IDEA of what they are talking about!!!"

Quotation from a Singapore Eurasian author.

What is Culture?

Culture is not only about songs, dances, language and religion. These are the more colourful and visible parts of culture, and many of us forget that culture is not merely restricted to these activities. Culture is loosely defined as the behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions and all other products of human work and thought, especially as expressed in a particular community.

More accurately, Harvard Professor Samuel P. Huntington says culture is "something that involves values, norms, institutions, and modes of thinking to which successive generations in a given society have attached primary importance."

Dr. George K. Chacko, the chairman of the Centre of Excellence in Management of Technology and Professor of Management of Technology at Multimedia University, Malaysia in his detailed explanation of culture defines it as follows :

"Culture is (1) cultivated (2) habit-pattern of (3) thought and action (4) commonly evidenced and (5) communicated from (6) generation to generation as (7) collectively-accepted (8) code of conduct."

Dr. Chacko goes on to explain that : "ALL culture is cultivated habit-pattern of thought and action; ONLY cultivated habit-pattern of thought and action is culture. ALL culture is commonly-evidenced habit-pattern of thought and action. ALL culture is communicated from generation to generation; ONLY habit-pattern of thought and action communicated from generation to generation is culture as in: "My mother taught me." ALL culture is collectively-accepted code of conduct of thought and action; ONLY collectively-accepted code of conduct of thought and action is culture."

The Culture of the Malaysian Dutch Descendants

Dutch Traits

When one meets and speaks to a Ceylonese Dutch Burgher or a Malacca Dutch Eurasian in Malaysia, one will unmistakably notice some of the subtle but uniquely similar Dutch traits that they share with their distant ancestral cousins from The Netherlands.

It is truly amazing that through the centuries, the Malaysian Dutch Descendants are able to retain much of these ancestral traits which is perpetuated in their bloodline, even when there was practically no contact with the ancestral fatherland and no interaction with other Dutch men for the more than 150 years.

Therefore, it can be concluded that culture is not just about the environment that the person is surrounded in, but its goes much deeper than that. However, without our Dutch Eurasian/Burgher culture being re-established and revived, and because of intermarriages and crossed cultural influences, future generations will have less and less of these traits when the Dutch blood becomes more and more diluted.

The Dutch are well known for their distinguishing feature of their character that can be generally summarised as follows:

They are well known to be very business minded and careful with their money. They are frank - meaning what they say and saying what they mean, sometimes even at the risk of being undiplomatic and too direct, which can at times be considered as being rude by Asian standards. However, they are punctual and faithful to their promise. They are generally meticulous with record keeping and have good organising skills.

The Dutch have a relatively more subtle and not very colourful culture. They don't like to force their ideology onto others, don't like to stand out from others, don't make a scene and value their privacy. They would prefer to speak in English (or other languages) to a person who doesn't understand Dutch than to force that person to try to speak Dutch. Their love for art is reflected by famous Dutch artists like Van Gogh and Rembrandt but they don't boast about it.

Historically noted, instead of getting people to become like them, the Dutch would prefer to take the best from other people's culture and adopt it as their own. They don't just eat their own kind of food but enjoy a wide range of international cuisine. They are generally a very adaptive society of people who are able to blend in with different cultures and environment.

Breudher

"Breudher" (also spelled as "Brueder" or "Bloeder") is a sort of cake that is a made and consumed by people from both the Ceylonese Dutch Burgher community and the Malacca Dutch Eurasian community.

Breudher Cake
A traditional mould is used to bake the "Breudher." It is usually a heavy brass mould with deep groves and a sort of pike in the center, so that when the cake is baked, it comes out in a grooved ring shape with a hole in the center.

Each family has their own adaptation, but generally the recipe contains butter, sugar, lots of eggs, bread dough, milk and sultanas. The end product is a bread like cake with a slight yeastyness in its taste.

For serving, it is cut into slices, spread with butter and topped with Dutch Edam cheese. It is usually made during the festive season, like Christmas.

Ceylonese Dutch Burgher families have been making "Breudher" for generations, since their ancestors were the "Vrijburgher" community in Dutch Ceylon. The difference in the "Breudher" recipe between the Ceylonese Dutch Burgher and the Malacca Dutch Eurasian community, is the Malacca "Breudher" uses toddy (fermented sap from the flower of the coconut tree) instead of yeast. Toddy was probably used as a local substitute when yeast was difficult to find.

The Malacca Portuguese Eurasians claim it as originating from their community as they also have their "Blueda" which is said to be a traditional Malacca Portuguese cake. The Dutch from The Netherlands have never heard of the cake called "Breudher" but if its recipe and the description of its peculiar shape is described, the Dutch will immediately know it as the "Tulband", which means "Turban" because of its shape. Therefore, it can be concluded that "Breudher" originated from the Dutch and probably the Portuguese "Blueda" is from the Dutch version. Also, "Breudher" probably comes from an ancient name that have now even been lost to the people of The Netherlands.

Artaple kalakoon

Mr. Francis Van Huizen from Malacca mentions in the New Straits Times paper interview (10-2-1992) that every Christmas, his mother prepared "Artaple kalakoon", a typical Dutch meal consisting of turkey and roasted potatoes. He says that his Dutch friends from Holland confirmed that a similar dish with the same name is served in their country too. Mr. Van Huizen's grandfather migrated from Sumatra to Singapore and later landed in Malacca.

Sinterklaas Day

Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus originates from Sinterklaas in Holland. Sinterklaas is depicted wearing a bishop's robes and was said to be accompanied at times by "Zwarte Pieter" (Black Peter), a black elf whose job was to whip the naughty children. December 5th is traditionally observed as the feast day of Saint Nicholas, when presents are received by children.

Sinterklaasfeest or the feast of St. Nicholas is also a time when Dutch people give each other presents, accompanied by a poem or hidden in a surprise package. Around the time of the Sinterklaasfeest, Dutch people eat a lot of sweet things, like "speculaas" (spiced biscuits), "pepernoten" (gingernuts) and "taaitaai" (gingerbread). In the Netherlands, shops sell all the letters of the alphabets in chocolate and people often get the first letter of their first name as a present.

Sinterklaas is actually named after Saint Nicholas, a 4th century Byzantine Bishop and according to legend the popular saint saved children from death and provided brides and dowries. Just as children around the world believe in Santa Clause, Dutch children too believe that Sinterklaas really exist. According to the story, he lives in Spain and has a big book saying which children have been good and which have been naughty. On the night before Sinterklaasfeest, he rides through the night on his white horse over the roofs and throws presents and sweets down the chimneys. To tempt his horse, children put carrots and hay in their shoes and lay their shoes by the stove.

Today in Amsterdam, Sinterklaas's arrival is a big event. He sails into the port in an old steamer, then makes a journey through the city on a white horse. He is accompanied by his helpers, the "Zwarte Pieten" (Black Petes), who have blacked-up faces and brightly coloured costumes.

The American version of the Santa Claus figure received its inspiration and its name from the Dutch legend of Sinterklaas, brought by Dutch settlers to New York (formerly known as New Amsterdam) in the 17th century. It was the popular author Washington Irving who gave Americans their first detailed information about the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas. In his History of New York, Irving described the arrival of the saint on horseback (but unaccompanied by Black Peter) each eve of Saint Nicholas day. Nowadays, Santa Claus only comes on the night before Christmas.

As recent as maybe about 30 years ago, some Dutch Ceylon Burgher families in Malaysia were still celebrating the traditional Dutch Sinterklaas Day on December 5th. The children were happy because of the presents they received and the sweets they ate on that day.

I wonder if there are any Malaysian Dutch Descent families who today still celebrate Sinterklaas Day? If there are, I would very much like to hear about it.

Language influences

There are many Malay words found in the modern Dutch language but this is largely due to their long connection to Indonesia. In Malaysia, there are a few words influenced by the Dutch language that can be found in Malay language, such as: duit (duit), gabenor (gouverneur), senapang (snaphaan), laci (laatje).

Links to picture albums

Click here for pictures of descendants
Click here for pictures of old Malacca

Calling for contributions

This page is aimed at collecting data on forgotten ancestral traditions and practices of the Malaysian Dutch Descendants. We invite Malaysian Dutch Descent families to share your ancestral culture so that it may be recorded and retained.

For contributions, please contact us!

Dutchmalaysia.net

Official website of the Malaysian Dutch Descendants Project

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