Honouring ancestors, shaping empires: the story of Southeast Asia’s Peranakan Chinese

In dark blue suits, the elders of the Khoo clan gathered outside the prayer halls of the Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi, a grand 190-year-old clanhouse in George Town, the capital of the Malaysian state of Penang. One by one, they stepped inside for the Tung Chen ceremony, held annually on the first day of the winter solstice, a ritual that draws together members of the Khoo clan, one of the oldest Peranakan communities, from far beyond Penang. As smoke filled the air, Khoo Kay Hock, a senior...