Description
The Jawi Peranakan chose their spouses carefully, screening prospective matches for wealth and status, rather than racial origins. This enabled intermarriage between Jawi Peranakan and other prosperous local Muslim communities, like the Arabs, Indians and the Malay aristocrats. Despite assimilating into the Malay culture, the Jawi Peranakan maintained a distinct identity which was captured in their architecture, clothing, jewellery and cuisine. Also, the community placed a strong emphasis on getting an English education, especially since many Jawi Peranakans hold Colonial Government jobs. Culturally, they contributed to the arts scene of the region, especially in music.
The Jawi Peranakan were enterprising and progressive and by the late 19th century, they had accumulated considerable wealth and status and contributed to the economy as merchants and landlords. They were also literate and English-educated, easily qualifying for government jobs. A group of Jawi Peranakan financed the first Malay language newspaper, the Jawi-Peranakan. Its first editor was Munsyi Mohamed Said Bin Dada Mohiddin, a South Indian Muslim who remained as editor for 12 years, from 1876 to 1888.
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