Baba House
Peranakan Heritage | |
Director | Mrs Christine Khor |
---|---|
Curator | Foo Su Ling Peter Lee |
Public transit access | EW16 NE3 TE17 Outram Park (1°16′50″N 103°50′22″E / 1.28056°N 103.83944°E) Singapore |
Baba House (also referred to as NUS Baba House) is a museum in
History
Built in the 1890s, 157 Neil Road is a residential terrace house located in the Residential Historic District of Blair Plain. The house and the surrounding area was gazetted for conservation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore, in 1991.[2]
In April 2005, a S$4 million donation was made to the National University of Singapore (NUS) by Ms Agnes Tan, the last surviving daughter of the founder of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), the late Tun Tan Cheng Lock. This donation was given to the university to acquire the Wee family's traditional Peranakan house along Neil Road.
The house came into the Wee Family in 1910 when a matriarch of the family bought the house for her grandson, Wee Eng Cheng.
The house was last owned and managed by Mr Wee Lin, the sixth-generation descendant of Wee Bin.[1][3]
Another donation of S$1.5 million was made to the university, for acquisition of two other shophouses along Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock in Malacca. These acquired houses will be restored and used for educating younger generations about Peranakan history, culture and architecture, while the two houses in Malacca to be used for study on conservation techniques of historical buildings. In gesture of appreciation for the donation, the university named the Singapore house as the Tan Cheng Lock Baba House.[4]
The House was officially opened by President of Singapore Mr
Display
In contrast to the Peranakan Museum, the Baba House enables visitors to experience more intimately how typical Peranakan homes looked and functioned in the 1920s, the Golden Era of Peranakan culture in Singapore. It is a showcase of lavishly carved antique furniture and items used by Chinese Peranakans of that time.
The venue may be booked for culturally relevant events as part of the experience-making process.[5]
The House can be visited by appointment only and bookings to join the weekly guided tours (limited to 14 people per tour) can be made through the NUS Museum.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Tay, Suan Chiang (2008-09-03). "Peranakan Pride". Straits Times.
- ^ "URA-NUS demonstration project : No. 157 Neil Road - The richness of Straits-Chinese architecture restored". Urban Redevelopment Authority. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- ^ Yusof, Helmi (18 September 2015). "The gift of space". The Business Times. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ^ Davie, Sandra (2005-10-08). "Daughter of late businessman wants the young to learn the legacy". Singapore: Straits Times.
- ^ Shetty, Deepika (2008-09-04). "Telling Baba story differently". Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2012-03-16.