A treasure trove of early photos at Singapore's Peranakan Museum

By the 1860s, when the pioneer photo studios were established in Singapore, affluent Peranakans were among the first to have their photos taken. The more than 200 photos on display at Amek Gambar range from portraits of prominent Peranakans. Photo: Peranakan Museum Singapore

A section of a new exhibition at the Peranakan Museum in Singapore shows photos of a Baba wearing a sarong kebaya, a Nyonya dressed as a Baba and a man who probably spoke no Mandarin posing like a scholarly Chinese gentleman.

A Peranakan man is a Baba while a woman is a Nyonya.