Suukee Nang: What it Means to be Hainanese
By Regina Hoo
May 2017 FEATURE
Beyond its mouth-watering cuisine, Hainanese identity is marked by its unique history and language.Nineteenth century illustrative map of Hainan Island.Several factors spurred the Hainanese to pack their bags and make their way to fertile Malaya in the nineteenth and twentieth century. These included widespread poverty, war, the Qing government’s rescindment of its ban on Chinese leaving the empire, the Japanese invasion, and the rubber and tin boom in Malaya.But their late arrival meant that the Hainanese were pushed into less-than-desirable...
Regina Hoo
is the deputy editor of Penang Monthly.
