Identity maintenance and identity shift: the case of the Tirok Chinese Peranakan in Terengganu

This paper examines the state of identity maintenance and identity shift among the Tirok Chinese Poranakan in Terengganu who are an acculturated rural Chinese community in a Malay populated area.The current older generation still maintains the Peranakan identity, featuring strong Malay cultural influence.Their acculturation by the the larger Malay community could be attributed to the three factors: confinement to a Malay environment,common schooling with the local Malays and strong Sino-Malay ties.Malay culturalinfluence is most evident in their spoken language,building architeeture,dressing style, cuisine, eating habits and female inheritance rights.Howeyer,amidst acculturation, they still maintain a strong Chinese identity that has been manifested through their observance of Chinese religious and cultural practices, their usage of the Chinese dialect as the home language,their preference for wearing Chinese-style attire in public and their preference for intra-ethnic marriages.But the Peranakan identity has been eroded over the years. There is a noticeable identity shift among the current younger generation as new Malays and heightened their Chinese identity.The degree of identity shift,however,differs between the current second and third genarations and also between those who have moved to town and those who remain in Tiro