The Baba House Hotel, Malacca

The Baba House Hotel, Malacca (11 July, 2005)

The Baba House Hotel (GPS: 2.19647, 102.24485) is a 2-star hotel housed in Malacca. It is a traditional Straits Chinese or Peranakan townhouse that has been readapted for modern use. Located at at 125-127 Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (formerly known as Heeren Street), The Baba House was once a home of the Straits Chinese elite. Indeed the name Heeren is Dutch to mean master or gentleman.

The Straits Chinese, or Peranakan, is the name given to the Chinese people who are born in Malacca (and by extension in Penang and Singapore) who have absorbed the local cultural influences to create their own, unique culture. They have lived in Malacca continuously for 600 years, right from the time of the Malacca sultanate.

As the Straits Chinese community became affluent, they flaunt their wealth by erecting trophy houses. The choice address is Heeren Street, and there, they try to out-do one another in their ostentatious show of wealth. Today Heeren Street is renamed Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, after a prominent Straits Chinese politician and architect. The era of the Straits Chinese has long past, but their houses in Heeren Street remain as a treasured heritage to Malacca.